The Crystal Gate
by The TurquoiseCow
Summary: Fifth in the series. Arachnemon and Mummymon plan to use powerful crystals for evil, and it's up to the chosen to stop them, but can they? Daisuke seeks to regain his memories, Miyako looks to Ken for answers...will he help? [22 added]
1. Following

**The Crystal Gate**

**Part One:** Following

* * *

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie**: _Digimon_: not mine. This story: mine. Don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

**Another Note:** This story is **fourth in a series**. If you haven't read the other parts, you probably won't understand this. Just a warning.

Moo.

* * *

Midmorning, the sun was bright in the sky and the clouds white and fluffy. Takeru, half asleep, lounged on the cushions of the carriage, long legs stretched before him to rest on the seat opposite him. They'd be reaching Takaishi soon, and he was content with nostalgia.

Hikari, silent and solemn, was replaying memories in her head of a conversation she'd had with Daisuke before leaving. She still felt rather conflicted over the decision to travel with Takeru, wondering if it was unwise to leave him. She had told herself that it would probably be best for him to spend time apart from her, so that he might recall something of himself, on his own, and yet she was still remembering the last time she had left him, in the middle of the woods, fire blazing all around.

She sighed heavily. Takeru opened one eye and glanced in her direction, but she was peering out the window and made no sign that she noticed him.

Unlike Ishida, located between mountains with mine shafts and rocks, Takaishi was situated on the edge of a marsh, home to wide rice fields as far as the eye could see. There was a small village located within a short distance of the large manor house, but most of the people here lived in distant clusters of huts nearer to the rice. The road traveled between the fields on a relatively solid tract of land. Floods were common in the spring, but the road was dry and passage was relatively simple.

As they crossed the fields, the heads of workers bent over in the fields could be seen scattered amidst the marshes, and distant small huts and houses were visible in the distance.

"This is where you're from?" Tailmon asked, for once awake rather than napping on the trip. She turned away from the window briefly.

"It's where my mother is from," Takeru answered, nodding. "I was born in Takaishi. Mother had traveled home to see her parents at the time. I spent much of my childhood among rice fields."

The carriage slowly passed through the rice fields along a dirt road. The ground was low here, and the windows afforded the passengers a view of little above the marshes. In the midst of the fields was a spectacularly huge, wide house made of red bricks with a tall staircase ascending quite some distance to the entrance.

"Some problems with floods here?" Tailmon wondered, conscious of the low elevation.

"Mm," he said, nodding. "In the springs, if it rains enough, this road can flood for weeks at a time. It's horrible trying to get wagons through – they stick in the mud. The lower levels of the house were flooded so many times that everything was moved up a floor. The kitchens are at ground level and the main entrance is on the second level. Of course, that meant the staircase had to be extended, because they couldn't have guests enter by way of the kitchen."

"It does require an awful lot of stairs to climb, however," Patamon pointed out. "Not exactly pleasant for some people."

"Not pleasant at all for my grandmother," his partner agreed. "She doesn't often leave the house - it's too much difficulty for her to climb the stairs, and she doesn't want to be carried."

"Grandmother?" Hikari echoed. "Your grandmother still lives?"

Takeru nodded again. "She's very old and very weak, but her mind is strong and she's stubborn, and she's got no intention of dying anytime soon."

* * *

Daisuke had intended to leave without saying a word to anyone but Hikari. He had several reasons for keeping silent, the first of which was that he was not sure where he was going to go, only that he felt a need to follow a particular strain of memory that had been returning to him often since he'd returned to the palace. If he'd been asked to justify his journey, he knew that he would not be able to, and he was somewhat concerned that he would thus be prevented.

Secondly, he didn't want anyone to volunteer to go along with him. He had seen the concerned glances nearly everyone had been casting in his direction. Most of the people he noticed doing that he had no memory of, which made him feel as though they would look at him even more pityingly if they knew he had no idea who they were. Some of them, he had not known very well, but he had no way of knowing this, of course, and he didn't feel comfortable asking anyone about another's identity, because it made him seem even more weak and pathetic. He didn't want to seem weak anymore, and he also thought that chasing after his own memories was the sort of thing he ought to be doing alone – since they were _his_ memories and not anyone else's.

He decided after a bit of thinking that he would leave the day after Hikari and Takeru departed for Takaishi. Koushiro was preparing to leave the same day to return north to Hida, taking with him a convoy of assistants and apprentices and intending to report to Iori the surprising news that the youngest Chosen might soon become the Lord of Hida. Though it was not yet set in stone (being that they had not yet managed to work through the complex, paperwork regarding the land, a task that Iori would have been greatly suited to assist with), it was deemed to be enough of a certainty that Iori might be told. Taichi was especially pleased about his solution, partly because it was something that might anger the northern Lords, which he not-so-secretly found enjoyable. In truth, his argument about the suitability of one of the Chosen to hold land was a pretty good one, though Sora and Yamato doubted it would be good enough to please the northern Lords.

At any rate, the departure of the convoy was such an event that Daisuke felt he had a good chance of slipping away from the palace without really being noticed. He found in the midst of things that belonged to him in a room he'd left months ago a warm, dirt colored cloak with a large hood, big enough to ensure that he would be able to disappear easily. Though he had no clear memories of any such event, the cloak was one that he'd worn on multiple occasions when he'd felt the need to disappear within villages and towns. Unfortunately, a boy from a village within which he'd disappeared was currently staying at the palace and could recognize the sight of Daisuke better when he was invisible than when he was not.

It was early morning. Shijo was, as he had often been here, bored. He had no chores and no duties to do. His attempts to offer to help the servants had resulted in gentle scolding, as though he were above such work. At first he found it amusing and liberating, but the truth was that he was restless. He'd always had plenty of work to do at home – to help his mother clean and cook, to fish in the streams for food – and though a reprieve made him feel good for a few days, it wasn't long before he realized that the life of a noble was a boring life.

There were libraries of great wealth of knowledge, but Shijo wasn't a very good reader to begin with and traversing through heavy volumes is difficult when one also lacks a desire for books. Like Daisuke, he was much more interested in _doing_ than thinking or reading. His brother had taken well to study, but Maigo would be a mage, and Maigo was a very different person from Shijo.

And so, in the early morning, he was lying on a stone wall in the garden, studying the wispy clouds that floated above. A few Piyomon called out in the sky as they danced on the winds, the sun glinted off their colorful feathers. His partner Koromon dozed sleepily on his stomach, snoring lightly and bobbing up and down with his breathing.

There was a creaking noise of a heavy wooden door on metal hinges, and Shijo turned his head slightly toward the direction of the palace, knowing that this was the only place nearby from which such a sound could have emanated. He expected to see a maid with a bucket, for the well was in the courtyard a few steps from the door, and was mildly surprised to notice that the figure was dressed in an earth-colored cloak. It was cool, but not so cool that a maid would need to don layers in order to fetch water a few steps from the door. Immediately, Shijo realized that whoever this person was, they were leaving on a journey, a theory which seemed to be confirmed by the presence of a knapsack thrown over one shoulder. When he turned to shut the door behind him, Shijo could see the face clearly enough to recognize Daisuke.

"What's this?" he mumbled quietly. Koromon opened sleepy eyes and turned himself in the same direction. "Where's he going?"

"Hmm?" Koromon questioned sleepily. "Hey!" he realized, a bit louder than necessary. "Daisuke!"

"Quiet!" Shijo hissed, throwing one hand over his partner's mouth. Quickly, he rolled off the stone wall and ducked behind it. "Looks like he's leaving, and he doesn't want anyone to know he's leaving," he whispered to his partner. Lifting himself up with his free hand, he peered over the edge of the low wall and peered over it.

If Daisuke had suspected anyone was watching him or that anything was unusual, he had quickly suppressed such worries, for he had already turned away from the garden and the palace and begun to walk along a path leading away from the building, down a gentle slope, around a wide corner, before eventually meandering out of the palace grounds and heading southward.

"He's leaving!" Koromon realized when he'd regained the power of speech a moment later. "Where's he going? It doesn't look like he's coming back any time soon."

"No," his partner agreed, puzzled. "It doesn't. It looks like he's going on a long journey, and he doesn't want anyone to know he's going. I wonder why…."

For a few moments, the boy pondered this, watching as Daisuke became slowly smaller along the path. He was not walking in a hurried pace, but nor was he slowly wandering. It seemed as though he was setting out on a mission of some sort. "Do you suppose he's heading off to battle?" Koromon wondered suddenly, his voice sounding excited.

"Battle?" Shijo echoed. "By himself? On foot?"

"Maybe," his partner answered, shrugging as best it is possible for a Koromon to shrug (which is surprisingly well, as anyone who's seen can testify). "I don't know how people go off into battle."

By this time, Daisuke had reached the edge of the grounds and disappeared beyond a tall gate that marked the edge of the palace property. From here, Shijo knew, a single road headed away from the castle before branching off in an innumerable number of directions – north, south, east, west, and everything in between.

"Let's follow him," Shijo decided, pulling his own cloak up from where he'd left it, draped over the wall as a blanket, and dashed down the road at top speed, eager to come within view of the intersection before he lost sight of Daisuke.

"Adventure!" cheered Koromon eagerly. "Oh, but wait. What about Maigo?"

"Maigo will be fine!" Shijo shouted back cheerfully. "He has his magic. He's going to be a mage, not a…a…an adventurer. That's what I want to be. Like Daisuke. An adventurer."

"Is that what he is?" his partner asked, devouring this new information.

"Sure," Shijo answered. "Oh. Quiet!"

They'd reached the edge of the palace grounds. A tall iron gate separated the rest of the world from the secure gardens. Had Shijo been of the magical persuasion, he would have been able to tell that the ancient fence was more than it seemed – not only a decorative purpose and a security measure, it also held a large amount of protective magic, the result of hundreds of years of spells cast by palace mages, wizards, and sorceresses. As he had no inkling of either history or magic, Shijo knew only that the heavy gate post was exactly the right side to hide behind and peer around.

He needn't have worried about being spotted. As was often the case, the crossroads was full of travelers on foot, in carts and carriages, traveling every which way. There were traders and merchants, carrying goods to the palace, or to the town beyond. There were nobles – magnificently dressed Lords and Ladies, come to pay respects to the King and socialize with the others of their class in the way politics was done in this place. There were mages – for the palace was also one of the best places in the kingdom for apprentices to study and learn, and there were doctors, who had come to peruse the huge libraries, and in the midst of all of them were dark clothed men and women that Shijo knew must be thieves, for he had seen their kind in his own village. The entire chaotic intersection was overseen by a dozen or so guards, dressed in impressive uniforms, the seal of Yagami embroidered on their chest.

Feeling nervous and yet more at home than he had in some time, Shijo plunged into the crowds, eyes firmly fixed to the hem of the dirt-brown cloak he was following. He slipped effortlessly between servants, behind Monochromon, under wagons and around carriage wheels, careful not to be seen while at the same time not loosing sight of Daisuke. His precautions were largely unnecessary, for Daisuke never so much as glanced back as he made his way through the crowd, heading east.

Shijo paused momentarily when he saw the direction they were about to take. He had grown up on the western edge of a forest, the other side of which was said to have great evil. To head East, across the stream, was to risk death. He shook his head. He had seen great good come from the East, hadn't he? Or had he? He had seen someone come from the Eastern woods, at any rate, and he was far from home now and there was nothing wrong with going East here.

Yet, though he reminded himself of such, Shijo felt a shiver of cold run down his spine as he broke free of the crowd in time to run after Daisuke.

* * *

As Takeru had sent word ahead that he would soon be arriving, his grandmother had prepared the staff of the house for guests. And, since he had been kind enough to add that Hikari would be traveling with him, the servants were out in full force, with nearly two dozen waiting to carry bags and other items up the stairs. Though she was _used_ to some amount of special treatment, Hikari was not necessarily _comfortable_ with it.

"My grandmother likes to be…um…," Takeru attempted to explain.

"Ostentatious?" Patamon suggested.

"Grand," he finished, glaring upwards at his partner, who grinned innocently, as though he was aware of nothing. Hikari giggled, a nervous expression, and Takeru wondered if it would have been better to arrive unannounced.

At the top of the stairs another set of servants was on hand to open the doors, which were large and lavishly decorated. The handles were made of polished gold and the doors of a thick, rich colored wood, embellished with intricate carvings.

"We are pleased to welcome you," said the butler, a tall, dark haired man dressed in an suit made of shades of green. "Her ladyship is expecting you. Please." He gestured that they should follow him, and then disappeared around a corner.

"My grandmother sometimes likes formality," Takeru informed her as they walked down a long corridor. "Sometimes she does not, but sometimes she's in the right mood for, well, ceremonies. She pines for her youth and the balls and the courtship with my grandfather, and sometimes laments that we've done away with the…grandeur. I should have guessed that a visit from the princess of Yagami would stir that within her." He frowned thoughtfully.

Hikari was quiet for a moment, musing on his words. "I hope she is not intimidated," she said then, to which Takeru could not help laughing.

"Grandma has never been intimidated by anyone," he assured her. "She often is the one who intimidates."

Needless to say, this knowledge stirred a bit of apprehension in Hikari, but before she could remark on this further, the butler paused at a particular door in the corridor and turned the handle. The door clicked open and they were ushered into an ornate sitting room.

The windows were wide, massive glass panes framed by luxurious dark green drapes tied back with paler green ribbons. Behind them were sheer white panels embellished with green embroidery. The ground was not a carpeting, but the same rich-colored wood that made up every door. A few smaller rugs in various shades of green were scattered about the floor in appropriate positions. The walls were painted a pale yellow, and a few portraits of distant, long deceased relatives peered down at the visitors. A massive fireplace lined one wall, a small flame feebly flickering within.

Takeru's grandmother, the Lady of Takaishi, was an elderly woman with a frail body and a strong spirit. She was seated in an overstuffed armchair near the fireplace, a green and gold blanket draped over her lap, and dressed in dark blue gown so rich that it shimmered in the light from the open windows. Her thin gray hair was pulled back in a tight bun, and when she saw her visitors, her blue eyes flashed with life.

"Grandmother, it is good to see you are well," Takeru greeted.

"It is good to see you live," she answered sharply, though with a bit of warmth in her eyes. "Your mother writes that you have been far too reckless lately."

"Reckless?" he repeated. "No, I am not reckless. I do what needs to be done, Grandmother."

"I would wager that we differ on what needs be done," mumbled his grandmother's partner, a rather sleepy looking Piyomon, dozing on the back of the armchair.

"It's possible," he conceded.

"There was once a time, Takeru, in which we had armies who kept the safety of the kingdom," Lady Takaishi told him, and then shook her head, disagreeing with herself. "I am neglecting our guest. Forgive me, your majesty, but my bones are too weak for me to stand. If I might have assistance…."

"No, no," Hikari interrupted, waving both her hands. "It's not necessary, your ladyship. I am a guest within your house. Thank you very much for having me."

"I am very pleased to have you," Lady Takaishi answered, relaxing in her chair, having, to the relief of everyone present, abandoned her desire to stand. "It has been many years since a princess visited our humble abode. I hope that you will enjoy your stay, though Takeru tells me that you have come not for pleasure, but for a far graver purpose."

"I am certain that I will," she agreed. "You have a lovely home."

* * *

In the evening, as the sun was beginning to sink, Daisuke paused on the bank of a slow-moving stream. He replenished his supply of water and drank a few long gulps of the cool liquid. The night was growing colder, so he gathered together some twigs and branches that were scattered on the ground from the trees nearby and soon had a small but useful fire burning.

There were no fish that he could see in the water below, so he satisfied himself with the food he had brought with him – some dried meat and fruit. Though he still was hungry, he saved the excess for a later time and put it back in the bag he'd brought. Then, he set his cloak down on the ground and laid on top of it, close to the fire.

The stars slowly began to appear in the night sky, and any other travelers on the road had settled down for the evening – either along the path as he did or in villages nearby – and so there was no sound but the soft splashing of water in the nearby stream. V-mon had taken notice of a bug that was hopping through the grass and had decided to follow it, occasionally leaping forward and trying to catch it.

There was a rustling of leaves from the nearby cluster of trees farther down the stream's bank. V-mon, having followed the insect to rather near the trees, stopped and looked into the darkness beyond, his interest in the bug disappearing. The rustling stopped, and for a moment the small blue digimon did not dare to breathe. Then, the rustling sounded again, and he thought he caught a bit of movement and a flash of color.

"Daisuke!" he called, waking his half-asleep partner, still lying near the stream bank. "I'm going in!"

Rubbing his eyes, Daisuke sat up, yawning, and mumbled, "What?" He looked around, but in the dim light it was nearly impossible to see anything. He blinked, squinted in the darkness and wondered if he'd imagined the entire thing.

There was a shout from within the trees, beyond the light of the fire. "Wait!" It was V-mon's voice.

Daisuke debated for a few moments, feeling sleepy. He got to his feet and considered going after his partner. Before he could make a decision, however, V-mon burst out of the bushes, panting for breath. "Daisuke!"

"What? What is it?" he wondered, and his partner gestured behind him, to where a young boy and his partner were emerging from the trees.

"Hi!" Koromon greeted, bouncing in his partner's arms. Exhaustion had made him hyper, hunger had made him crazy. Shijo had the more ordinary response – a yawn which he could not prevent – a sheepish sort of smile, downcast eyes.

For a long moment there was quiet, in which Daisuke's tired mind tried to process what he was seeing. He yawned heavily and then shook his head to try to wake himself up. "You…followed me?" he finally concluded when he could speak clearly.

"Um, well…," Shijo began, rubbing the back of his neck. "I…not exactly…." This meant yes.

"Did you happen to tell anyone where you were going?"

"Um…not exactly…." This meant no.

Daisuke sat down, his exhaustion overcoming anything else he might have been feeling. "Your mother," he finally pronounced gravely. "Is going to _kill_ me if I don't bring you home immediately."

"No!" he answered, a little too loudly, a little too quickly. "I mean...," he paused, again studying the ground by his feet, "I don't want to go home yet, please."

"You can't come with me."

"Why not?" the boy questioned, looking up from the ground. "I - ." But he was interrupted by a grumble of hunger from his stomach.

Pulling his bag near him, Daisuke began to rummage within it for further supplies. "I'm not sure where I'm going, but I'm sure it will be dangerous. I can't bring you with me because it would put you in danger, I can't guarantee that I'd be able to keep you safe, and if you got hurt your mother would most certainly kill me."

"She wouldn't _kill_ you," Shijo contradicted, catching the fruit that was tossed to him. Anything else he'd intended to say was forgotten as he devoured the deliciously sweet food – the first he'd eaten all day.

Daisuke didn't bother to respond to this statement. Instead, he shut his eyes and fell back again on to his cloak where it still lay on the ground. V-mon found a few twigs on the ground and tossed them into the fire. The flames jumped and then subsided. There was no sound but the insects in the trees and the water in the nearby stream.

"Please, don't make me go home," Shijo said when he had finished his fruit, fearful of the silence. "I have been so – there's nothing for me at the palace – not that I don't appreciate it, but there's nothing there for me to do – and I can't go back home now that I've been…," he trailed off, aware of the directionless state of his words. "Please, let me come with you."

"Your mother…," Daisuke protested sleepily, and interrupted himself with a yawn.

"She trusts you, I think," he disagreed more energetically. "I'll promise to stay out of the way and not do anything dangerous and I'll listen and…."

"It's not about that," Daisuke interrupted. "I'm sure that your mother thinks that I would do anything possible to keep you safe." He sighed, then yawned. "I'm tired. We'll talk about this in the morning."

* * *

It begins. Thanks for reading, reviewing, etc. Stay tuned. 


	2. A Daunting Dillema

**The Crystal Gate**

**Part Two:** Daunting Dilemma

* * *

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:** _Digimon_, not mine. Plot, mine. Don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo. Enjoy!

* * *

A few minutes past midnight, Iori awoke suddenly to find that sweat had appeared on his brow and goose bumps on his arms. He shivered a few moments, pulling the covers over his shoulders once more, and shut his eyes, but sleep didn't return. In fact, he felt a strange sort of nervous tightness in his stomach. In truth, he'd been awakened this way for the past few nights, and he couldn't figure out why.

He laid in bed for a few moments, staring up at the ceiling in the darkness. In the weeks since he'd arrived, the village had slowly been rebuilt and Iori had moved from sleeping on an ancient, huge couch to sleeping on a small but surprisingly comfortable cot, and he was no longer in a small, cluttered, dusty sitting room beside a fireplace, but in an upper, empty bedroom.

After a few moments, Iori gave up on trying to sleep. He got up and crossed the small room to the wide windows and pushed them open. With a creaking moan, they parted, letting in a gentle, cold breeze.

"I keep thinking the village is going to be attacked again," Iori said aloud, to no one in particular. "I think that's why I can't sleep." He sighed and pushed the windows open further and leaned partway out of the building. "No sign of anything, yet."

"Go back to sleep," Armadimon mumbled from his perch on the end of the cot, where he was still curled in a ball. "There's no one here. Koushiro said there was no sign of a crystal in the area, so they won't attack again."

"They might not know there's no crystal here," Iori disagreed. "They might attack again because they know I'm here."

His partner mumbled something mostly unintelligible and fell back to sleep almost immediately. Iori stared out into the dark night and tried and failed to feel tired. When he listened intently, he thought he could hear noise, but it was nothing at all.

* * *

Shijo awoke after the sun had risen, his cloak wrapped around his shoulders as a blanket. It was cool in the early morning, and the dew made the soft grass wet and damp. He yawned deeply and sat up, feeling a bit disoriented for the moment, and saw that he had spent the night on the bank of a lazy stream.

Koromon was still sleeping, snoring softly on the ground beside him, but V-mon had taken to examining something of apparent interest to him in the stream, and was crouched on the bank nearby, looking down into the water. Intrigued, Shijo crawled through the cool grass and peered into the water. Below, he could see a few small, colorful fish as they swam about in the clear water.

"Not big enough to eat," V-mon said with a disappointed tone of voice, turning away from the water. "I was sort of looking forward to fresh fish."

"You could still eat them," Shijo pointed out. "You'd have to eat a lot of them to not be hungry, though."

"Don't pay attention to him," Daisuke said from further inland, where he was poking at the fire so it would grow stronger. "He's always hungry. He'd have to eat every fish in the ocean to not be hungry."

"Not that much," his partner disagreed, frowning. Shijo giggled at the digimon, who began to eye his stomach self-consciously.

There was food, though not fresh fish, to eat. It was mostly dried meat and a few fruits that Daisuke had packed before leaving. Shijo ate as little as he could without still feeling hungry – he didn't want to seem as though he might be a burden.

"So," he said casually, mouth half-filled with fruit. "Where are we going?"

"We?" Daisuke echoed, frowning as he had the evening before, sternly. "_You_ ought to go home. Or at least back to the palace."

The younger boy shook his head. "There's nothing for me there. I'm not going to be a mage, so there's no point in studying. They won't let me work, so I don't have anything to do. I'm…bored…and I can't go home. Please, don't make me go home. I want – I want some sort of adventure. I promise, I won't get in the way, I won't…."

Daisuke had started shaking his head halfway through the speech, and now he spoke, interrupting, "I'm not going looking for adventure, Shijo," he said gravely. "I'm not looking for danger. I'm…I'm not sure what I'm looking for."

"Then you've nothing to worry about!" Shijo pointed out. "I won't get hurt, I won't get into trouble, and so Mama will have nothing to worry about."

"I'm not _looking_ for trouble," Daisuke repeated. "That doesn't mean it won't find me." He tossed another fruit in the boy's direction. Shijo caught it and devoured half of it before he was fully aware of what he was doing.

"Well, then I'll help you get out of trouble," he offered.

There was a long moment of silence. Shijo stuffed the last of the fruit into his mouth and silently admired everyone else present for not bursting into laughter. The statement sounded ridiculous to even him.

"He has a point," V-mon stated. He was lying on his back on a large rock nearby, tossing the pit of a recently devoured fruit in the air and catching it.

"He does?" Koromon asked.

"I do?"

Daisuke made a grumbling mumble of a noise, the sort one makes when reluctantly agreeing. He got to his feet, pulling his cloak after him, and shook it so that the dirt would fall out of it. A small shower of grass fell to the ground before he threw it over his shoulders.

Shijo didn't dare to move for a few moments, and then he hurriedly got to his feet and pulled his own cloak up after him. The sun was warm, and so he folded it in his arms rather than carry it.

"It's not exactly wise to travel alone these days," V-mon said, not having moved from his previous spot. He was looking up at the sky, watching fluffy clouds float by. "Even a boy would be better than no one."

Shijo didn't dare speak. He studied the grass at his feet for a few moments and became suddenly interested in a mark on the toe of his right shoe.

"Yeah," Daisuke mumbled, turning back to Shijo. "All right. You can come, if we make a deal."

The boy's head immediately turned away from his shoes. "Yes, sir," he said quickly, aware of the almost immediate painful expression that briefly crossed over Daisuke's face. "I mean, yes. Yes."

"If anything attacks, you run for safety. You stay out of the way. I don't care what happens to me or anyone else, you and Koromon get out of the way. Understand?"

"Attacks?" Shijo echoed. "Something's going to attack?" The only response to this was a sharp glare. "I mean, right. Yes. I understand. Safety first."

Daisuke sighed heavily and glanced toward V-mon. "He's going to get himself killed," he told his partner.

V-mon shrugged, sitting up on his rock. "Yeah, so would you," he pointed out, grinning mischievously. "So quickly you forget."

This only made him frown deeper. "Fine. Secondly, we send word back to your brother so he knows where you are and doesn't panic."

"Oh, he won't panic," Shijo assured him. "He probably won't even notice that I'm gone. He's been so busy studying."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," he disagreed, sighing heavily. "All right, then. Come on."

"Yes, right," Shijo said, almost biting his tongue in refraining from another "sir." "Um…where are we going?"

"The Eastern Lands," V-mon told him in a deep voice, waving both arms around to indicate that this was a frightening place to travel to. "Where it all began."

"Where what all began?" Shijo questioned, but Daisuke was already ten steps ahead of him, and he had to hurry to catch up.

* * *

The rebuilding of the village of Hida had been turned over to the professionals. The villagers were beginning to move into their new homes and to fill them with the objects they had recovered from the destruction. Kimiko had led the women in the creation of blankets and clothing and everything else that would be necessary for making a home. The men who were not assisting with the rebuilding and moving were in the fields, planting and tending to what promised to be a very successful harvest.

Iori busied himself within the manor house, searching through dust-covered clutter, disposing of ancient furniture that was nearly destroyed. Despite the rumors he and Koushiro had heard before they arrived, he'd seen no sign of Bakemon, but the house was a disaster nonetheless. The last message he'd received from the palace had indicated that they were very close to deciding upon a new Lord of Hida, and he decided to make what would be that person's new home as comfortable and clean as possible.

This was, of course, a daunting task, especially in a house so huge. Iori started in the cluttered study he and Koushiro had occupied their first night there and set to work tossing out all of the old furniture that had not been taken from the manor. Most of it was ancient and in horrible condition, so he simply disposed of it. The curtains, too, were taken down and thrown out – it would be far less work to make new ones – and the windows were creaked open for the first time in years, letting in clean air and sunshine. Iori stood in the center of the mostly-empty room, wiping the sweat from his brow and surveying his work. There was still much to do, for the floor had not been cleaned in many years and there were cobwebs in the corner, but the presence of clean air and fresh light made him feel as though much had been accomplished.

There was a well not far from the back entrance and many still-good buckets in the kitchen, and so Iori used these to haul much water through the house and into the empty study. He found a mop, a brush, and some soap that had been salvaged from the village and set to work immediately scrubbing and mopping the floors until they shined in the sun and the cobwebs were gone. It was late afternoon by the time he had finished, leaning against the mop to assess his work.

"Not bad," Armadimon noted. He had been helping his partner by using the scrub brush rather than napping, and now was feeling tired. He yawned. "Let's take a break for some food."

"Wonderful idea," Iori agreed, stretching his tired arms, exhausted from endless mopping. "I'm a bit hungry." He turned and saw that a young woman was standing in the doorway, looking at him and the room with wide, blue eyes.

"Oh…," she said slowly. "It's…amazing. You did all this by yourself?"

Iori shrugged modestly. "There's not really that much," he said, "and there's still much to do. The chimneys will all still need to be cleaned, and the windows," he gestured toward them, "but it's a start."

"Wow," was all she had to say.

"Did you come to say that food is ready?" Armadimon questioned, thinking of his stomach.

"Oh, no," she answered, shaking her head. "I don't know about the food. I just thought I'd come and tell you that they spotted a carriage coming this way – they think the wizard's returned."

"Koushiro?" Iori asked. "Finally!" Forgetting his tiredness, he let the mop fall to the ground and hurried out of the room.

* * *

"Oh, not much," Koushiro answered, handing off the bag he carried to an eager-looking young boy. "There's news, of course, but that will wait." He looked unusually pleased with himself, a state that Iori had not seen him in before and so worried him.

"What news?" the old woman, Kimiko, demanded. "Has the King decided who he will send here to lead us or are we to become the property of some other Lord?"

"Property?" the wizard echoed. "I should hope not. Yagami outlawed slavery quite some time ago and I am quite certain the King has no intention of reinstating it."

"Kimiko is outspoken with her words," one of the village men interrupted, an apology of sorts. "Has a decision been made yet? Do you bring news?"

"News, of course, as I said," Koushiro repeated. "It will wait, however, until I have had some food and maybe some rest. It's a long journey I have been on, half-way around the kingdom and then back again. Iori!"

Iori took hold of the other bag Koushiro had been carrying. "They've just finished preparing food," he informed the wizard. "It smells delicious."

The youngest of the Chosen was covered in thick dust and dirt and smelled of dirty mop-water. Koushiro chuckled silently to himself. "Hand that off to someone," he said in a voice only loud enough for Iori to hear. "I've got something to tell you."

Confused, Iori nodded, obediently passing the

* * *

heavy sack to someone else. In a loud enough voice to be heard by all, he said, "I expect you'll want a bath before you eat?" 

"This won't do," Koushiro muttered to himself, frowning severely. "Iori is well suited for it, of course, but he's not used to that life."

"What do you suppose he'll say?" Tentomon asked his partner from his perch at the top of a tall wardrobe. "What if he refuses?"

"Oh, he won't refuse," the wizard assured him. "I'm pretty sure he won't refuse it."

"And if he does?" his partner pressed.

"If he does? Well, then, I'd guess Hida is in much trouble."

"Why do you say that?" Iori questioned, having emerged from a much-needed bath. A small towel was around his neck, and his hair hung limp and wet, dripping slightly. "Why is Hida in much trouble?"

"It's not," Koushiro assured him, glancing briefly toward his partner. "I was speaking hypothetically, of course."

"Hypothetically…," Iori repeated, still appearing confused. A drop of water fell on to his nose. He took the towel from around his neck and rubbed it over his hair quickly, drying it.

Koushiro took a deep breath. "Iori, sit down."

Still confused, Iori glanced quickly between the wizard and his partner before slowly sitting in the nearest chair. It was an ancient, filthy, overstuffed armchair that had likely been in the house for nearly a hundred years. A small cloud of dust rose from the cushions.

"I'm not sure how to tell you this," the wizard began, taking another deep breath and folding his arms behind his back. "A decision has been made about Hida."

"Has there?" Iori asked, interested. He leaned forward so that he was sitting on the edge of the chair. "Will it be part of Fujiyama? Or Yamamoto?"

"No," Koushiro answered.

"Then…."

"It won't be part of any other Lord's holdings," Koushiro interrupted before he could run through the entire list of landowners in the kingdom. "It's going to remain as Hida."

Iori glanced briefly toward Armadimon, who had seated himself on the floor beside the chair and was watching Koushiro with the same amount of interest as his partner. "Then, they've found a new Lord of Hida?"

"Yes," Koushiro began, and took another deep breath. Before he could continue, Iori had gotten to his feet, already immersed in his thoughts.

"Fujiyama has a second son," he mused, "although I'm not sure if Hideki is best for Hida. Yamamoto has only the one son, who will inherit his land…."

"Iori," the wizard interrupted, clearing his throat. "Might I finish?"

"Oh, sorry." Iori looked up, remembering Koushiro's presence, and sat down again quickly. "Go on."

"As I was saying," Koushiro began again. "After much discussion and debate, the King has come to a decision that Hida will remain Hida and that it will be under the control of a new Lord of Hida."

"The previous Lord's daughter?"

"Released herself from her claim to the land many years ago. She has been living in the Northern Kingdom for quite some time and had no interest in Hida. The papers verifying such were finally located."

"Hmm," Iori said, nodding. Koushiro waited for him to interrupt further and was pleased when he did not.

"Iori," he said then, although Iori was already paying attention. "He wants to give Hida to you."

There was a long moment of silence. Koushiro had, since being told of this plan, spent many hours wondering and thinking, trying to anticipate how Iori would react to this news. He might disagree, he might, as Tentomon had predicted, refuse, he might be overjoyed – although the last did not seem likely.

Iori stared blankly at Koushiro as though he had spoken these words in a foreign tongue. For a moment, it didn't seem as though he understood what had been said. Koushiro waited and then, when nothing seemed to happen he said, hesitantly, "Iori…?"

Now, he did speak, and he seemed to be dumfounded. "What?" he said, blinking a few times. "Me? But, I'm not…."

"You're Chosen," the wizard reminded him. "That seems to be enough for him."

"But, I'm not…," Iori repeated. "I'm not…I'm…."

Koushiro sighed heavily. "Now, it would seem you are."

"What?"

"'How does one get to be of noble blood?'" Tentomon quoted. "'Someone _says_ that they are of noble blood.'"

"Indeed," Koushiro said in agreement.

"'If not the word of a King, then whose word makes one noble?'" Tentomon continued.

"I don't know," Iori admitted. "I suppose that makes sense…."

"Let us only hope," Tentomon mumbled.

"I'm only passing on information," Koushiro informed him. "You're perfectly within your rights to refuse, though I don't know what will happen to Hida then."

"It will be in much trouble, as you said," Iori noted. He sighed heavily. "Koushiro…."

"If you don't want the job, there's no one saying that you must take it," the wizard continued. "You need only say so, and this place will become the responsibility of someone else."

"No…," Iori disagreed, shaking his head. "I can't leave this place to someone else, not after all I've done here." He sighed. "Still…."

"It's a big decision," Koushiro acknowledged. "Think on it for a bit. Sleep. Take all the time you need."

* * *

Moving on, as slowly as ever. What will Iori do? How will the others (especially Kimiko) react? Stay tuned.

Coming up: stuff, stuff, and more stuff. Exciting battles, thrilling danger, and plenty of other junk thrown in. Thanks for reading and reviewing. Ja ne.


	3. The Awakening of Takeru's Intution

**The Crystal Gate**

**Part Three: **The Awakening of Takeru's Intuition

* * *

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie: **_Digimon,_ not mine. Plot, mine. Don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo.

* * *

It was evening, the sun no more than an hour from sinking in the west, but Daisuke showed no sign of wanting to stop for the night. Shijo yawned for about the tenth time in the last hour, hoping he would get the hint, but Daisuke showed no sign of having paid any attention.

They were in the middle of the woods, some distance away from the main road, and they had traveled not only east, but some distance south as well. The trees here were nearly fully green, a sure sign that spring was almost ready to turn to summer again. In the dim light, however, the air had a chill to it. Shijo shivered and wished for a warm fire.

"Daisuke," he began for the tenth time that day. "Are we going to stop soon?"

"Almost there," came the same mumbled response as before.

"Almost _where_?" Shijo wondered. There was no answer. He yawned again. His stomach rumbled.

Daisuke halted his steps so suddenly that the boy nearly walked into him. They were in the middle of the woods, same as before, and at first, Shijo could see no reason why they had stopped here until he'd peered around Daisuke to see a small wooden sign jammed into the ground a few steps away. Not being a very good reader, he had only read the words '_The Village of…,_' and was stumbling over the last word when a sudden strong breeze nearly blew him off his feet. His hair in his eyes, Shijo swiped it aside, hearing a noise not unlike the sound of a stampede of Monochromon – or how he assumed a stampede of Monochromon would sound, since he had never heard nor seen such a thing. When he'd managed to look, however, he saw nothing, and then the wind suddenly died.

"Finally," V-mon muttered sleepily, following his partner.

Shijo blinked, staring after them for a few moments. He stared at the last word for a few moments before he was able to discern that it was '_First_.'

"First? First what?" he asked of Koromon, who shrugged. Daisuke was almost out of sight by now, and he hurried to catch up.

Only a few steps further and the scenery had changed. No longer was there hard dirt, soft grass, and crunchy leaves beneath his feet, but a soft, almost squishy sort of material that he could not identify. There were no more trees, either, but large pastel-colored boxy shapes.

"Am I dreaming?" Shijo asked aloud, again halting his steps.

"Oh! The village of firsts!" Koromon realized. "It's the Primary Village – where digimon are born."

This simple explanation actually reassured Shijo quite a bit – even he had heard of the Primary Village, though he had never known where it was located or how to get there. He hurried to catch up with Daisuke, who had been walking onward in a manner that suggested he was not surprised by his surroundings.

"Of course the Chosen would know where this place is and how to get to it," Shijo whispered to Koromon. "I wonder how many human eyes have seen this place in the last hundred years."

"Not many, I assure you," said a sudden stern voice, and Shijo stopped quickly to avoid walking into a small, rather angry looking red digimon that had sparks emanating from his back. The digimon was glaring at him so severely that the boy took a few steps back.

"Leave him be, Elecmon, he's only a boy," V-mon interrupted from his perch atop his partner's head. His voice sounded lazy, tired.

"So, you brought him here, then?" Elecmon questioned, turning sharply. "What's the meaning of this? If he harms the babies…."

"He's not going to harm anyone or anything," Daisuke said, turning around. "I give you my word. We won't be staying long. I only stopped by to see if I could borrow the services of a Piyomon and this is the best place to find one. We'll be gone first thing in the morning."

"You'd better not," the electrical digimon muttered, still glaring in the boy's direction. After a few moments he turned toward Daisuke and said, "There are a number of Piyomon who want to go into the message-delivering business and would love an excuse to fly somewhere. You want to send a message to the palace? Nothing dangerous encroaching on my doorstep again, is there? I can't handle too many refugees again. It's springtime now, and my hands are full, you know."

"Nothing dangerous," Daisuke assured him. They were interrupted then by the sound of crying coming from some distance away. "Point me in the direction of those Piyomon?"

"That way, that way," Elecmon answered, waving one claw as he hurried off to tend to his charges.

"Do we really look that untrustworthy?" Koromon questioned of his partner. Shijo shrugged.

"Don't take it personally," Daisuke advised. "He's protective of the babies."

"_Very_ protective," V-mon agreed.

They walked for some time in the direction Elecmon had indicated, Shijo taking in the sights of hundreds of small pastel-colored eggs scattered about the ground and towers of similarly colored boxes, pondering what he witnessed. Eventually, they came to a section of small huts surrounded by Pyocomon and Piyomon, some of which looked as though they were preparing to sleep. Overhead, a few more of the bird digimon flew in circles, practicing their flying.

"Hi there," said one of the Piyomon cheerfully, waving with his wing.

"Hello," Daisuke greeted. "I was hoping one of you might be willing to take a bit of a trip for me. I have a message to send."

"A trip? A trip?" Almost immediately, they were surrounded by a flock of eager bird-digimon, each crowding around the other. "I'll go! I'll go!"

"Quiet!" shouted one voice, and the first Piyomon, apparently the leader, flew to a higher point so he might look down at the others. "Quiet!" he said again, louder. "You cannot all go!"

A collective disappointed moan came from the flock of birds. The leader peered down at them all with a stern glare and then pointed to one in particular. "Your turn."

"Yeah!" shouted the selected Piyomon, and the rest of the flock slunk away, disappointed, a few of them muttering under their breath. The selected bird digimon flew away from the departing crowd and perched on the edge of a pastel block, where he was nearly eye-level with Daisuke. "Where to, sir?"

"To the palace, if you don't mind," Daisuke answered. "I assume you know how to get there?"

"Been there and back a few times – eager to go again," the Piyomon answered cheerfully . "Do you want to write the message, or should I remember it?"

He shrugged. "I haven't got anything to write on or with, so you'll have to remember. I'll keep it short, though. I need you to find Inoue Miyako – she's a mage."

"Mage Miyako," Piyomon repeated, nodding.

* * *

Hikari and Takeru had spent nearly a week at Takaishi, and though they had spent much time visiting the villages and looking over the rice fields and traveling around the area, there had been no attacks and no sign that any attacks had recently taken place.

In the middle of a dreamless sleep, Hikari was awakened by the sound of a distant explosion, loud enough to wake everyone in Takaishi, but not close enough to damage the ornate manor house. She was awake and sitting bolt upright in the bed almost before the sound had finished.

"It's about time," Tailmon mumbled, yawning and stretching while her partner detangled herself from blankets and the curtain that surrounded the bed.

"I don't see anything," Hikari was saying, peering through the huge window. She released the curtains, letting the window close again, and hurried to find a warm robe and some shoes. She didn't bother to fully dress; there wasn't time.

Takeru was already in the hall, also having thrown on shoes and a shirt over his night clothes. "I think it's coming from the south," he said, pointing in the opposite direction of the room she'd emerged from. "It might be fastest to fly."

* * *

It was nearly midnight, and still Yamato had not gone to sleep. Since Iori had left, paperwork and files were in a shambles, and the offices dedicated to working these things out were a little overwhelmed. Although Iori had not been the only person working in such a capacity, he had been possibly the most skilled at organizing the chaos. Running a kingdom was difficult enough without paperwork and information being out of order, and so Yamato had been attempting to help straighten things out. The task was proving larger than he'd anticipated, however, and he was exhausted from the effort.

'_How did Iori ever manage?'_ he thought to himself when he finally left piles of paperwork and stumbled down the hall in the direction of his bed.

It was a warm, pleasant night, and had been a warm, pleasant day that he had not had the opportunity to enjoy at all. Now, yawning heavily, he went into a previously empty office, walked past the piles of paperwork and books and pushed open the wide windows. Feeling the warm, sweet-smelling breeze on his skin revitalized his mind at least for the moment, and he stepped out on to the tiny veranda.

Distantly he could see a dark shape soaring beneath the stars – a small bird that he immediately assumed to be a Piyomon, delivering some message even at this late hour. A momentary chill gripped his stomach as Yamato thought of Takeru; wondered if Takaishi had been attacked and this bird was sending word. Drawn by the light of the lantern he carried, the Piyomon turned widely and arced toward the open window.

"Greetings," the Piyomon said when it had landed on the railing. It sounded a bit tired, a bit out of breath. "I hope you can help me…."

"Where do you come from?" Yamato questioned without giving the bird a chance to finish his sentence. "Takaishi? Hida?"

Piyomon shook his head. "Primary Village," he answered. "I'm looking for a mage named Miyako."

"A message for Miyako?" Gabumon questioned. "From the Primary Village? What sort of message?"

The Piyomon shrugged, and neither Yamato nor his partner pressed further, for they knew that Piyomon messengers were only supposed to relay messages to the intended recipient and no other. Relieved that the message was not likely about Takaishi or his brother, Yamato sighed.

"She's probably in the basement, in Koushiro's study," he told the Piyomon. "I'll take you there."

* * *

Once in the air, Takeru could easily see the source of the explosions he had heard. There were a great deal of flames leaping high into the air in nearly every direction spreading away from the manor house. Every house that he could see had a roof on fire, and the residents hurrying into the streams and the safety of the water. None of the rice was burning, at least not yet.

"…Everywhere…," Hikari breathed, the end of a sentence that he had not heard the beginning of. "Tyrannomon!"

When he looked closer, Takeru could see what she was talking about – that near each of the small clusters of houses was a large fiery dinosaur spreading the flames. "There's so many," he mumbled. "Damn."

"I'll head east, you head west," Hikari decided, Nefertimon already flying in that direction. Takeru hesitated for a brief second, then nodded, urging Pegasmon to head the opposite way.

They landed in the center of a cluster of houses, in the midst of the flames, right at the feet of the Tyrannomon. Takeru dismounted as quickly as he could and his partner de-evolved almost immediately, dodging the flames.

"I'll take care of him," Patamon called over the sounds of panic. "You put out the fire."

"Sounds fine to me," Takeru agreed. A bright light flooded the area, over which the sounds of his partner's evolution could be heard.

"Patamon evolve! Angemon!"

* * *

Miyako was, as Yamato had expected, where she had been spending many days and nights lately, immersed in books and magical tomes as Koushiro had always been. Like Koushiro, she did not immediately notice the arrival of Yamato, his partner, and the messenger Piyomon in the doorway, but she looked up after a few moments, her face a picture of confusion.

"Something wrong?"

"I don't know," Yamato answered. "This Piyomon came for you, from the Primary Village."

"A message from Primary Village?" Hawkmon said, looking up from his perch atop a pile of wavering books, where he had been napping. "How unusual."

"You are the mage called Inoue Miyako?" the Piyomon questioned, flying up to the edge of the table she was seated behind. When she'd nodded, he continued. "I have come from the Primary Village with a message from Motomiya Daisuke."

"Daisuke…he went to the Primary Village?" Miyako asked, staring wide eyed at the Piyomon, and then toward Yamato, who shrugged, equally clueless. "All right," she said, slowly, "What's the message?"

"You are acquainted with a mage-in-training called Maigo?" When she nodded, the Piyomon went on, "His brother, Shijo, is in the Primary Village, heading East. I have been asked to tell you to inform him of his brother's location, as it seems he left without telling him."

"Heading East?" Yamato echoed. "Why is he heading east?" The Piyomon had no answer. Miyako was shaking her head, slowly.

"I never understood why Daisuke did half the things he does," she admitted, sighing heavily. "I suppose I understand even less now." _'Though I have my theories_,' she added silently.

To the Piyomon, she said, "Thank you. If you return to the Village and see him again, you can tell him that I have done as he asked."

"I will return," Piyomon answered. "I don't know that I will see him again, though." He yawned heavily and excused himself, ready to sleep.

* * *

Bucket upon bucket was filled with water, passed along a line of people carried from the streams to the houses. Takeru glanced upward as he dunked the next container into the water and passed it to the man beside him, wishing for rain. It had been a relatively dry spring so far – no rain – but that might change. He hoped it would.

"Heaven's Knuckle!" shouted Angemon above, and the fire-fighters paused long enough to see the massive angel digimon's fist connect with the Tyrannomon's long snout. It roared in pain and deleted immediately. Takeru felt a sigh of relief and he heard the cheer among the people.

"Amazing," whispered the man standing closest to him, passing back an empty bucket to be filled with water. Takeru couldn't help but grin.

"There's more to be done," Angemon called down to his partner.

"I can't leave this place to burn!" Takeru protested, but immediately the farmers and their families were disagreeing.

"The rice has been saved," said one woman. "The rice is what matters – we can rebuild our homes if we must."

"We're safe now from the Tyrannomon," said the man who had been passing the bucket to Takeru. "Go and stop the others."

"Thank heavens no one was killed here," said another woman, looking upward in thanks.

Takeru hesitated briefly, and then nodded.

"Holy Arrow!" Angewomon called, her voice echoing across the rice fields. A flash of blinding light followed, and then the Tyrannomon's roar of pain and anger, and then it was gone.

A bit of cheering could be heard below, in the center of the cluster of houses. The fire had been halted, at least momentarily.

"Hikari!" Takeru called from somewhere amidst the rice, and emerged near the previously burning house on the edge of the fields. He paused to catch his breath, leaning over and panting heavily. "Looks like all the fires are out," he said when he was able. "No sign of…."

"Of what, precisely?" interrupted a woman's voice from somewhere nearby. Both Chosen turned sharply and saw that a thin woman with long white hair was standing in the midst of the rice plants, a ferocious looking Mummymon behind her, eyes glinting in the moonlight.

"Of a crystal, perhaps?" Mummymon questioned playfully, placing one finger on his chin and staring into the sky with mock seriousness. "I'm sure _you_ know where it is…."

"I don't know where anything is," Takeru returned shortly. "There's no crystal here. Leave this place."

"Such harsh words!" the woman said, feigning injury. Mummymon put one hand on his chest and stepped back.

"You're no mage," the mummy answered. "You have no idea."

"I know one thing. I'm not going to let you destroy this place looking for a crystal," Takeru stated. "Angemon!"

"Heaven's Knuckle!" shouted his partner, flying directly toward the two intruders, one fist poised to strike.

"Not so fast!" called Mummymon, and a shower of mini-explosions filled the air. The mummy spun in circles, sending the explosions around. Quickly, Angemon had to regroup, moving to shield his partner.

Hikari had been silent until then. Takeru turned back toward her, to make certain she was all right, and saw that her eyes were shut, an expression of concentration on her face that he was more accustomed to seeing on either Koushiro or Miyako. "Hikari?" he questioned hesitantly, his voice revealing his surprise.

"Did you think she learned nothing in the weeks she spent on a magical island?" Angewomon scolded him.

"If there is a crystal here," Hikari said, not opening her eyes, "it is you that must recover it, Takeru. You should leave these two to me."

"I don't know where to start looking!" he reminded her. "I…."

"South," she answered, interrupting him before he could find further flaws in her plan. "Head south. In the center of the rice field, there is a tall rock that points toward the sky."

"A-are you sure?" Takeru asked, hesitating. Hikari opened her eyes.

There was a brief chill in the air and then the sounds of the small explosions ended. Mummymon paused, looking at the device he had been using to cause them, and shook it a few times. "What the - ?" he wondered. "Stupid-!"

"Holy Arrow!" Angewomon shouted, and an arrow made of pure light sped toward him. It hit the ground at full force, sending waves of light backwards, throwing both the mummy and the sorceress off balance.

"Go now, Takeru, unless you want them to find the crystal before you," Hikari advised.

"How did you - ?" Takeru began, and then shook his head. "I understand less and less," he mumbled to himself, and nodded. "Right. Let's go."

"Right," Angemon agreed, and they were gone, flying above the air at a great speed. Takeru glanced back briefly and saw only flashes of light as the battle became more and more distant.

"South – in the middle of the fields," Takeru recalled, and then saw what Hikari had been referring to – a tall rock poking up from the midst of the rice. "That's it!" he shouted to his partner. "There!"

"I see it," Angemon answered, changing course. Moments later Takeru found his feet on dry land once more, though perilously steep land.

The rock on which he had landed was narrow. A small flat section of it was possible for him to stand on, and then the rest of it was steep and small. Takeru held on to the dry rock with both hands, as the section on to which his partner had deposited him was some distance from the ground.

"Do you see anything?" his partner questioned from the air where he was hovering. "Feel anything?"

"I don't feel anything but cold and slightly afraid," Takeru answered shortly. "I'm no mage!"

"No, but you're Chosen," Angemon reminded him. "If this crystal is like the one we found in Motomiya, it's somehow connected to _you_, and so you should have _some_ knowledge of how to find it and use it."

"I don't think so," he muttered crossly, but felt around with one arm, searching for some part of rock that might feel different than the rest of it. A flash of light to the north distracted him and he turned his head that direction, but there was nothing to see from this far away.

"I'm not feeling anything!" Takeru shouted, voicing his frustration.

"Intuition," his partner told him in a voice so calm as to be infuriating. "Use your intuition."

"I don't know if I _have_ any intuition," he returned loudly. "I'm not a mage!" But even as he said that he thought to move his right hand downward a little bit, and he felt something warm and smooth.

"That's it!"

He curved his fingers around the object slowly, for his hands were cold and his knuckles scraped against the rocks sharply. It seemed certain that he'd shed some sort of blood before this was over. Before long, he had a firm, though painful grip on the crystal in question.

'_Come on,_' he thought to the rock, momentarily silencing the barrage of questions that had been flying through his mind until that point. What did the sorceress want the crystal for? How had Hikari known it was there? Why had he chosen to move his hand to precisely the right spot? What good would it do to have the crystal anyway? Would it somehow cause his partner to merge with a different mysterious digimon, as XV-mon had? Who was that digimon? Thinking about Daisuke led to another barrage of questions that screamed to be answered.

Momentarily, they fell silent and Takeru thought, if only for an instant, that perhaps it wasn't necessary to look for answers, that all the questions would be answered eventually. Then, he felt the warm smoothness of the crystal grow even warmer until he was afraid his palms might be burned. He thought he could hear someone shouting in pain, but he wasn't sure if it was his own voice.

"Angemon evolve!" he heard distantly. "Holy Angemon!"

* * *

Finally, a bit of action, and a bit of Takeru. Go me. 


	4. Battles, Blood, and Love

**The Crystal Gate**

**Part Four: **Battles, Blood, and Love

* * *

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:** _Digimon_, all related characters, merchandise, and money, is not mine. The plot is. Mostly. Don't steal, don't sue. Don't forget to moo.

Moo.

* * *

Takeru landed, hard in the cold watery rice fields. A few dark shadows passed over him. He could hear shouting, and thought he saw the glint of a sharp sword. He moved to dodge, but the ground was muddy and his limbs were slow to respond.

"Excalibur!" shouted a voice, and another shadow moved across his vision. When he could see clearly, Takeru saw that the second shadow belonged to his partner, Holy Angemon, and the first shadow belonged to a vicious-looking digimon with armor and the a huge sword. For a few moments he could hear grunting and the clanking of metal on metal.

"You will not defeat me!" shouted the warrior digimon, raising his sword over his head and swinging it with a powerful speed that no human could ever match.

"Excalibur!" shouted Holy Angemon again, waving his own sword and matching blows easily with the other.

Takeru struggled to his feet with some difficulty, backing up against the tall rock from which he had fallen when his partner had evolved and the crystal had come loose. He became aware then of his right hand, in which he still held a small shiny piece of rock. His hand hurt slightly, and when he looked closer, he saw that the sharp crystal had sliced his palm open. For a few moments, Takeru stared at it, the pain and the blood seeming to be far away from his own mind.

"Yahhh!" shouted the warrior digimon. "White Bird Sword!" His weapon was moving faster than the human eye could follow. Suddenly, the air seemed to shimmer – Takeru felt a strange queasiness in his stomach that he could not identify – and then another six of the same warrior digimon appeared from nowhere.

"Takeru! Get to safety!" Holy Angemon shouted, raising his sword to block a series of repetitive blows from each of the new swords.

"White Bird Sword!" shouted another of the warrior digimon, and lunged toward Takeru, who slid down into the mud at his feet, hearing the sword clank into the rock behind him as he narrowly avoided the blade.

"Takeru!" he heard another voice shouting – a distant part of his mind recognized it as Hikari – and then he saw another sharp metallic blade headed for his head. He ducked again, but it was too fast and he shut his eyes tight.

"What's this?" he heard the warrior question, and he heard the sound of metal clashing against some other impenetrable, unbreakable surface. Takeru opened his eyes and saw that some sort of white glowing barrier had formed between himself and the sword. "Damn it!" shouted the warrior digimon, and struck the barrier again and again with his sword.

"Hikari?" Takeru glanced behind him, upward, to where Hikari was arriving, by air, carried by Angewomon.

"No, Takeru," she answered, grinning. "You're doing it by yourself."

"But, I…," he protested, and then looked down at the crystal, still in his hand, still warm with power, and realized that the barrier was emanating from that rock.

* * *

Miyako had waited until the next day to find Maigo for several reasons. First, it had been night and she assumed he might be asleep at the time she'd received the message and secondly because she had been in the midst of research at the time and hadn't wanted to stop. By the time she had gone to sleep and awakened late the next morning, she'd forgotten completely about the previous night's visitor, and only remembered when she passed Yamato in the hall in the mid-afternoon.

Though she was a mage herself, Miyako had not spent much time with the mages-in-training that lived and studied at the palace – mostly because she had never spent much time there to begin with. She sought out the woman who was in charge of their training – a sorceress whose gentle demeanor belied her awesome power (which Miyako could detect, well hidden though it was). This woman directed Miyako to the room the young boy had been assigned, but he was not there. It took a significant amount of further questioning and searching before she found him in the gardens, a heavy-looking volume in his lap.

"Books," Hawkmon observed dryly. "Something about a mage seems to draw them to books. I never saw you read so much until you found magic."

Miyako ignored him as best she could and took a seat on the low stone wall beside the boy. Unsurprisingly, he did not look up immediately, and so she waited until he'd become aware of her presence.

"Lady Miyako," he remembered, getting to his feet. "I'm sorry – I didn't notice…."

"I know," she answered with a knowing smile. "I've been involved in magical books of my own lately, I know how it is. How are your studies?"

"Oh, wonderful," he said, his face nearly exploding with a smile. "I love all of it."

She grinned back. "So do I. But, that's not what I came here to talk to you about. Do you remember the last time you saw your brother?"

He frowned, studying the ground at his feet for a few moments. "It's been a few days," he said after a moment in a much more solemn tone of voice than he'd used previously. "I think maybe he's decided to leave – I don't think he was happy here."

"Oh?"

"There wasn't much to do," the boy elaborated. "He's not a mage – so he didn't want to study. He wanted to be…well, he wanted to be an adventurer – a warrior, maybe. I think he thought coming here would be much more exciting for him."

"Hmm," she answered, nodding. "Well, he did leave. He's a few days journey from here now, south and east. I got a message from Daisuke last night asking me to tell you that your brother has followed him to the Primary Village."

He blinked a few times, the words taking a few moments to sink in. When they had, his face contorted into a confused expression. "The…why would he go t_here_?"

Miyako shook her head slowly. "I have absolutely no idea. The Piyomon who brought be the message didn't say anything about when they were planning to return, only that they were planning to travel…further east."

The moment she'd spoken the words, a realization came into her mind that she had not previously thought of._ "_Further east," she said aloud. "Of course…."

"What's further east?" Maigo asked innocently.

* * *

It was, as the spring had lately been, a beautiful day. A light breeze gently scattered sweet-smelling blossoms across the fields; the sun was bright and big in the middle of a clear blue sky. Sora looked upwards to see that Piyomon was flying happily through the breezes. She sighed, a contented sound.

The cart was rolling slowly south through the empty fields. There was no mission today, no pretense for this excursion away from the palace. It had been Yamato's suggestion – that Taichi take his mind from his work and enjoy the spring as he had not done yet this year. There had been reluctance, but, with Sora's help, Taichi had been persuaded. Or perhaps forced, depending upon the point of view.

"Isn't this nice?" she said, turning away from the window of the carriage. Taichi had a peaceful sort of smile on his face as he peered out the opposite window. When he sensed her attention, he frowned, pretending to be unhappy about being dragged out here. She laughed at him, and he frowned harder, pretending to sulk.

The carriage came to a stop on the edge of the woods, not far from where Sora and Mimi had been attacked by Mushmon a few weeks earlier. Having put all such memories from her mind, she left the carriage and breathed in the fresh air. Pink blossoms and small green leaves mixed in the wind as it blew past her.

Taichi was still hovering in the doorway, blinking in the sunlight as though he had not seen the outside world in quite some time. Frustrated with him, Sora turned back to the carriage and took his hand, pulling him down on to the ground before he had fully realized what she intended to do.

"Come on, silly. It's beautiful, don't you think?"

He followed, allowing himself to be dragged through the tall grasses, Agumon cheerfully half-skipping behind, sniffing at each of the flowers they passed between. "I suppose," he said begrudgingly, letting the bottoms of his shoes scrape in the dirt.

Sora was carrying a small basket in one hand, dragging Taichi with the other as she crossed the field, heading closer to the forest's edge. "I thought so when Mimi and I came here before," she continued, ignoring his dour attitude. "Yamato was right. You needed to get out and feel the sunlight. You've spent the last few weeks inside, talking to stuffy old men – you'll grow old before your time, you know."

Agumon thought this was funny enough that he stopped smelling a particularly interesting violet long enough to burst into laughter. Taichi frowned harder and glared in his partner's direction. "I won't," he retorted rather childishly. Agumon only laughed harder.

Sora giggled as though he'd said the most amusing thing. "Here," she said, finally stopping and releasing his hand. "This is perfect."

He blinked a few times in the sunlight and looked around. There was nothing there. Not too far to the south, there were trees that cast a bit of shadow on the plains. Around them were tall grasses and flowers – daisies and violets and buttercups and a hundred others that he didn't know the names for. "Perfect?" he echoed, raising one eyebrow.

"Perfect," Sora repeated, already having crouched low to the ground, unpacking the basket. "It's far enough away from everything that we won't be disturbed."

Taichi glanced around them again. Between the trees he thought he could see shadows moving. A few insects flew up from the tall grasses. One buzzed past his ears and he heard it humming as it soared higher in the sky. He looked up and could see that Piyomon was still happily circling overhead amidst a few wispy clouds. "Aren't you afraid something will attack here?" he asked.

Sora had unpacked a blanket, which she laid onto the ground and was kneeling on now while she emptied the rest of the basket. At his words, she paused, still holding a heavy-looking jug in both hands. Taichi could see that the muscles in her hands had tensed and she was breathing slowly, deliberately. "No," she said finally. "Nothing's going to attack today." She set the jug on the ground a little too forcefully and then quickly reached into the basket for another. "We're going to have a nice picnic," she placed the second jug sternly on the ground, "and you're going to enjoy it if it kills you."

Slightly alarmed at the tone of her voice, Taichi glanced around him one more time before he sat on the blanket as ordered.

* * *

The warrior digimon, all seven of them, were gone. Takeru felt an odd sort of exhaustion that he was not accustomed to, and a bit of pain in his hand.

The sun was had finished rising to the east, coloring the previously dark sky. In all directions they could see smoke rising from doused fires. The rice, thankfully, appeared largely unharmed.

They were sitting on the edge of the tall spike of rock where Takeru had found the crystal. His partner, now Patamon, was sleeping lazily in his favorite spot atop Takeru's head. Tailmon had curled into a ball on the sunny side of the rock and was also napping.

"That's a pretty nasty cut," Hikari was saying, looking at the gash the crystal had gouged in his hand. "I wish I had a bandage…a handkerchief or something…."

"It's mostly stopped bleeding," he answered distractedly, looking instead at the crystal in his other hand. "I don't understand…did the crystal do all that? Create the barrier? How did you know how to find it…how did _I_?"

She frowned in thought for a few moments, leaning back against the rock. "I think you found it because you were supposed to," she answered finally, looking at him with a patient sort of expression. "I think it helped you because you were the one that was supposed to find it – just as the other crystal helped Daisuke."

"Hmmm….," he said, still watching the crystal as though he expected it to do something unexpected. A long moment passed. He could feel her eyes on him, but neither said anything.

"I have this feeling," Takeru said then, breaking the silence. "I have this feeling that I need to be somewhere…not here." He pulled his eyes away from the crystal and looked toward Hikari again. "I'm not sure why…I think that this feeling is coming from this." He held up the stone in his hand.

Hikari was smiling now as though he had figured out a secret she had known all along. "Trust the feeling then," she advised. When he opened his mouth to object, she continued, saying, "Don't ask questions. Don't try to understand it, to figure it out, to analyze. You're not meant to know the answers yet."

"Do you know?" he questioned boldly.

She laughed, shaking her head. "Not a chance."

"You know more than I do, though, don't you? You always have."

Again she shook her head, but now the grin had faded to a more solemn expression. "I know far less than you do, Takeru, understand far less."

"But then, how do you know what's the right thing to do?" he wondered.

Hikari shrugged lightly. "If it feels right, do it," she answered simply. Before he could question this, she went on. "You've seen evil, Takeru. You've felt it before. Does that stone feel evil to you?"

"No," he answered instantly, shaking his head.

"Then, what it wants you to do cannot be evil, either. If you feel the stone wants you to go somewhere, then go there. It is the only way you will find out the truth."

"I suppose you're right," he answered hesitantly, and got to his feet. "Thanks. Will you come with me?"

She shook her head. "No. I have a feeling I'm needed elsewhere. I am learning to trust my feelings, too. Go. I'll take care of things here – explain to your grandmother."

"We're leaving?" Patamon mumbled sleepily. "Where - ?" The rest of that question was interrupted by a yawn.

"Not sure yet," Takeru answered. He climbed down from the rock and transferred the crystal to his other hand – the one that had been cut open. He gripped it tightly in his fist and winced as the pain returned again.

Then, in a flash of light, he was gone.

* * *

Nearly an hour later, meal finished, Sora was lying in the cool grass, eyes closed, feeling peaceful and sated with food. "It's nice, don't you think, to be able to simply…relax like this?"

"It is," Taichi agreed. He, too, was lying in the grass a short distance away, voice sounding sleepy and content. "Sora," he said after a moment, "I'm glad we came here."

"Hmm," she answered sleepily, a smile spreading across her face.

There was nothing but silence for a few moments. Sora had nearly drifted off to sleep when she heard a sound in the grass nearby and saw that Taichi had gotten up and was looking out over the fields, a far-away look in his eyes. She opened her mouth to tell him not to worry, that they wouldn't be bothered here, but the words disappeared before she could speak, and she instead sat up in the grass.

It was almost tall enough that she could barely see over it sitting down, but she wasn't looking beyond the grass. Instead, Sora's gaze was on Taichi, who was standing nearby with a curious sort of expression on his face.

"It's too quiet," he whispered, sensing her attention without looking in her direction. "Maybe I'm too used to excitement – but it's too quiet."

She didn't disagree, only frowned deeply and got to her feet. Taichi was slowly turning in all directions, eyes open and alert. Agumon was sniffing the air, searching for the scent of something other than flowers. Piyomon glanced up at her partner, waiting.

"That way," Agumon said finally, pointing east, though nothing could be seen. "Something that way."

They squinted in the sunlight across the plains, but no one could see anything. "Maybe…," Sora began hopefully, but then she caught sight of a flash of light, something glinting in the sun, and she stopped herself. "There."

"Piyomon evolve! Birdramon!"

They were in the air seconds later, the overhead vantage point allowing them to get a clean view of a bluish fire alighting the trees in the forest. Squinting, Sora could make out three blue-colored figures in the center of the flames. "Meramon?" she wondered, quickly running through her mind's recollection of digimon.

"_Blue_ Meramon," Agumon modified, looking up toward his partner. "Go?"

"Go," Taichi agreed, letting go. Agumon fell through the air toward the center of the blue fire. A white light exploded as he fell and he could be heard, shouting out.

"Agumon evolve! Greymon! Mega Flame!"

The blue fire exploded higher and mixed with the orange blaze of the giant dinosaur's attacks. For a few moments, even in the air, Taichi and Sora couldn't see much, and the flames danced higher, closer to them.

"Let's get out of the middle of this," Taichi called over the roar of the fire, holding up one arm to shield himself from a few stray sparks. Sora and Birdramon agreed, and a few moments later, they were on the ground a short distance away from the flames.

"The blue flames," Sora realized when they flew close past them, "the blue flames are icy!"

"Blue Meramon have ice power," Birdramon informed her partner. "Greymon _should_ have the advantage."

"It's three-on-one, though," Taichi noted with a severe frown. Beyond the blue flames, they could hear the massive dinosaur calling out "Mega Flame" and see the orangey flames of his attack.

Suddenly, the blue flames subsided and they could see one of the Blue Meramon passing through them. His face was contorted into a twisted grin. He held one arm before him, the flames dancing in his palm. "Cold Flame," said the Blue Meramon, his voice as icy and cold as his body and his attack. The flame leapt from his hand and landed on the ground before him. It leapt forward and formed a wall between the two humans, immediately solidifying into ice.

"I don't think so," Sora said, her voice a hoarse whisper, her face a stern glare. Birdramon took to the air again, soaring over the wall.

"Meteor Wing!" Birdramon called, sending fire below, causing the ice to melt almost immediately.

"Mega Flame!" shouted Greymon, emerging from the circle of icy flames. Badly damaged, the other two Blue Meramon followed him. One was limping, the other appeared to have had a portion of his outer skin removed, for a black core was visible beneath the surface of the flames.

"Cold Flame!" the two shouted in unison, sending tiny balls of flaming ice through the air. Some of them crashed into the ground, freezing the grasses, and some came dangerously close to Taichi, who dived out of the way with only seconds to spare.

"Meteor Wing!" Birdramon called, further damaging one of the Blue Meramon. It groaned in pain but did not delete. Another portion of its outer skin flaked off and fell to the grass, freezing that section of the ground.

"Cold Flame!" it called again, reforming the wall between the two humans, further encircling each of them. Immediately after, the least damaged of the Blue Meramon passed through the icy wall, lunging to attack.

"Mega Flame!" Greymon shouted, for the attack was aimed toward his partner, but he missed, the Blue Meramon having dodged quickly. The ground turned to ice beneath Taichi, and he fell to the ground, his feet slipping on the solid surface.

"Meteor Wing!" Birdramon attacked, again striking the Blue Meramon hard enough so that another section of its skin was damaged. It growled in pain, and Sora could see a black core beneath the flames.

"That thing – it's no ordinary digimon," Sora realized, unable to move her eyes from the black core within. It was blacker than night, a sinking darkness, a solid, smooth, shiny surface that glittered in the sunlight…almost like…."almost like something I've seen before," she said aloud.

"Mega Flame!" Greymon sounded angered now, furious, and another massive fireball sped through the air toward the Blue Meramon.

"Cold Flame," it answered, its voice an icy dull calmness, a shield of ice forming in its hand, blocking the flames. "Cold Flame."

"No!" Taichi shouted, struggling to pull himself to his feet off the ice. His hands felt so cold he was loosing feeling in his fingers already, and he stumbled and fell again. Pain jolted through his leg – had he scraped his knees on the ice? "Damn," he muttered.

The icy attack slammed into the massive dinosaur. Dust rose from the ground as his claws struggled to hold on to the ground beneath him and he was forced backwards. His growl of pain echoed in the empty fields.

"Meteor Wing!" Birdramon called, and her attack was the last straw that broke the already badly damaged Blue Meramon. The last bit of skin flaked off, revealing a solid black core, which disintegrated instantly and was gone. Another well-aimed attack from the fiery bird melted the icy walls that had separated Sora from the rest of the world.

The remaining two Blue Meramon were standing in the midst of the field, oblivious, for the moment, to her presence. One was battling Greymon (and seemed to be winning for the moment, despite its own damage) and the other had one arm pointed toward Taichi, who had slipped on the ice. "Cold Flame," the Blue Meramon muttered, and Sora, watching, felt her heart skip a few beats as the icy ball of fire sped through the air.

Taichi twisted himself on the ice and managed to slide, barely out of the way of the ice ball. Another large section of the grass became ice.

"No," Sora whispered, shaking her head. She glanced upward, toward her partner. "Stop them," she said, her voice clearer now, and then a fiery passion of her own appeared in her eyes and she took off at a run toward Taichi.

The Blue Meramon had a twisted sort of grin on its face – to think that it was gaining pleasure from this! Sora had lost the ability to think coherently, her thoughts merging into instinct, the rest of the world a blur of background noise that made no sense. There was a continuous high pitched noise in the back of her head. If she'd cared to notice it (which she didn't) she might have thought it signaled the beginning of a headache, which was also beginning to form in her skull. There was a strange feeling at her chest…a warmth that had never been there before…but she was scarcely aware of that either. For the moment Sora thought only of getting to Taichi.

The ice was no ordinary ice, but ice colder than that which forms in the blackest hearts, and merely being in close contact with it was enough to cause far more damage than would otherwise be expected. Taichi could no longer feel his fingers or toes, and his arms and legs were becoming numb as well. Distantly, he thought he could hear voices, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. His mind was filled with a desire for sleep.

Yes, sleep….

His eyes closed slowly and he began to sink into a dreamy sleep, resting his head on the ice.

"Birdramon evolve!"

* * *

In case you were wondering, the digimon that attack Takeru at the beginning of this chapter are Musyamon. Somehow I never managed to throw their name in there at all. Sorry!

Major action in this section, which of course makes me pretty happy.

Coming next: more Iori stuff, we'll find out where Takeru went, and, of course, the conclusion of this battle.


	5. Fate Decided

**Enter The Light**

**Part Six: **Fate Decided

* * *

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie: **_Digimon_ is not mine, including characters, digimon, etc. Plot is. Don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo.

* * *

"Garudamon!" shouted the new digimon, a massively huge bird whose wings blocked the sun momentarily.

Sora paid no attention to her partner's evolution – seemed, in fact, not to notice it in the least. Her shoes slipped beneath her when she stepped on to the ice. When she tried to step further, she slid forward on the slick surface and sat down, hard. It hurt, but the cold was more startling than the pain and already it felt as though her legs were beginning to turn to ice. She muttered a curse under her breath and somehow managed to get to her feet.

"Shadow Wing," said Garudamon in a tone of godlike power. The Blue Meramon hesitated, if only briefly. A strong gust of wind – stronger than even the gales Miyako's wind spells had produced – sped across the planes, scattering the blue fire, dousing some of them. One of the two remaining Blue Meramon fell over in the force of the wind; the other brought its arms up to shield its face.

"Cold Flame!" called the standing Blue Meramon, and a moment later the other joined the attack, but Garudamon easily dodged the flying ice balls and was not affected by frozen ground.

Sora slid across the ice, twisting and turning in an attempt to control the direction. When she was near enough to Taichi she dug the heels of her shoes into the ice and fought for a foothold. Miraculously, they cracked the ice and her slide stopped.

"Taichi…," she said, her voice revealing her fear. His eyes were shut, his breathing slowed, and it seemed as though his skin was taking on a blue tint. Sora crawled the last of the distance on her knees and reached him.

"Taichi!" she called loudly in his ear and he stirred but didn't waken. Sora began to feel her legs grow numb behind the thin fabric of her skirts. The weather had been spring-like. She cursed herself now for not having worn a thicker fabric – but how was she to know that she'd be freezing on the ice?

"Shadow Wing!" called Garudamon, and one of the Blue Meramon deleted, the blue flame of its body disintegrating in the force of the wind, the dark core beneath dissolving and deleting.

"Taichi…wake up," Sora shouted over the sounds of the battle nearby. She took his shoulders in her hands and shook him violently until his eyes opened, briefly, and he blinked at her.

"Tired…," he mumbled. "Few more minutes." His eyes slowly closed one more and he was silent.

"No!" she yelled sharply. "No, don't sleep. Taichi…don't sleep. You'll freeze!"

"Freeze?" he mumbled, blinking slowly. His eyes shut again. She shook him harder, until she was afraid she might have hurt him, and then he opened his eyes again. "Ow…," he moaned. "Too cold. Need to light a fire."

"Mega Flame!" shouted a voice from somewhere nearby, and Sora felt a warmth in her arms as the ice that had been forming cracked and melted. The last of the persistent Blue Meramon deleted violently in the midst of the flames and the ice melted beneath them, leaving the plains flooded.

Sora found herself kneeling in ankle-deep water, her skirts now soaked, her stockings drenched. The water was warm, though, and she could feel the sun again.

"That's better," Taichi said sleepily, and shut his eyes again. This time, Sora let him sleep.

* * *

Two days after Koushiro's return to Hida, he called a meeting with those he thought were likely the village elders – including the outspoken old woman, Kimiko. Iori had taken Koushiro's advice and spent a great deal of time thinking and mulling over the decision that would undoubtedly change his entire life as well as the lives of all the villagers. He had retreated to the upper rooms of the mansion where hardly anyone ever ventured (certainly none of the villagers, out of fear of Bakemon). 

Koushiro was not eager to participate in a meeting with the village elders, particularly Kimiko, but nearly everyone had been desperate for some sort of news from the palace about who was to be the new Lord of Hida. Rather than announce the king's plan to the entire village, he agreed after some amount of urging to meet with the twelve village elders and tell them what had happened. Hopefully, Iori would return from his upstairs retreat and accept the mantle of responsibility and all would be well. Otherwise, the wizard thought glumly, there would be a great deal of problems.

They assembled in the study that Iori had previously spent an entire day cleaning. There was no furniture, as all that had been there had been deemed to be in too poor condition for salvage, and so the twelve elders seated themselves in a half circle facing the cold fireplace.

"I would wager that the villagers won't have a problem accepting him, but if they do, it wouldn't hurt to use a bit of magic," Taichi had advised with a rather mischievous glint in his eyes. "Remind them about the power of the king and where you've come from."

Although Koushiro had initially thought that frightening the villagers would not be the best tactic, he was now reconsidering this plan. Thus when the elders were all assembled, he lit the fire by magic. A bright flame burst forth from the previously cold wood while he stood some distance away. A few of those sitting near the flames were startled, for there had likely not been a mage in Hida since the death of the last lord.

"You have not brought us here solely for a light show, have you, wizard?" Kimiko demanded.

"It is our village. We ought to know, should we not? What plans has the King for us?" one of the men questioned. He was the youngest of the elders – his dark hair was only tinged with gray at the temples and he had no beard nor mustache – but he was second liveliest, after Kimiko.

Koushiro smiled peaceably, as though he were amused by the antics of his students, and passed through the center of the circle to take a seat before the fire. "Light shows are hardly my specialty," he answered calmly. "I merely thought it an expedient way to warm the room." He sat on the floor, folding his legs beneath him, and surveyed the others in the room. There were three women besides Kimiko, and eight men, several of whom had long gray beards and pure white hair.

"The king will not give Hida to another of the northern lords," he began simply. "Hida will remain Hida, independent of the other holdings."

There was a murmur in response to this that Koushiro largely interpreted as favorable. Kimiko's frown remained, however. "Who then, will be responsible for it?" she demanded. "Surely the King has had time to decide this?"

"He has," Koushiro answered. "It is not only his decision, however. There are others who must be consulted."

"Others?" questioned the man who had spoken before.

"The other Lords," said one of the eldest men who sported a long white beard. "I'm sure they're all fighting over us, are they not? Who should or should not take possession of an ancient and forgotten holding?" He had raised one eyebrow, as though the entire situation amused him.

"Precisely," the wizard agreed. "Politics are more complex than I like to think of, and not my arena, so unfortunately, I haven't the details for you."

"Do you have information for us or not?" Kimiko demanded.

"Kimiko!" said the eldest man sharply. "Forgive her," he said to Koushiro, bowing slightly. "She has always been outspoken."

"She is entitled to her feelings," he answered diplomatically. "The King _has_ made a choice," he said to her.

"Who then?"

Before Koushiro could answer, the door to the chamber opened, creaking loudly on its hinges, and Iori entered the room. After spending more than a day in the dusty upper levels, his hair was mussed and his clothes were covered with a thick layer of dirt. There was a scratch on his left cheek, and his partner Armadimon, following behind him, looked tired. Koushiro would not have been surprised to find that he had found Bakemon and fought them.

"What's happened to you?" one of the women questioned sympathetically. "Where have you been?"

"Upstairs," he answered vaguely. "The Bakemon are gone now," he added absently, confirming Koushiro's suspicions.

A hum of conversation responded to this. "Bakemon?" questioned the same woman. "There were Bakemon here?"

"It was rumored for years," the eldest elder reminded her, shrugging lightly. "We are grateful to you, sir."

"Not so grateful as I am," Iori answered, sighing. The door had been slowly closing behind him all this time, and now it slammed heavily, startling them all.

"Were there many of them?" a different woman questioned.

"Was it a vicious battle?" asked the relatively young man, obviously eager for an action-filled story to break up a dull meeting.

"Three," Iori answered. "Not too vicious. I have been in far worse." He sighed again, showing his exhaustion, and began to cross the room. Koushiro got to his feet and made room for him in the circle.

"This is all very well, but off the topic," Kimiko said when Iori had sunk to the ground. "Will _you_ tell us who the King has chosen for us?"

"I am," Iori said, so startling her that she fell silent (which did not happen often).

There was no answering murmur to this pronouncement, no mumbles of surprise nor anger nor disappointment nor anything to gauge the opinion of the group. Iori sighed heavily again and let his eyes fall half shut.

"Y-you?" Kimiko finally managed to say, regaining the power of speech before any of the others had wrapped their mind around the meaning of his words.

Iori opened one eye fully and looked directly at her for a brief moment, then looked away and addressed the entire group. "I was born in Hida, though I have few memories of this place. I was not born to nobility, but the King seems to think this matters not. I have helped you rebuild this place and I will help you further if you let me. I don't wish to stay where I am not wanted."

Another moment of silence followed. "The King is wise beyond his years," said the eldest of the men, and a few murmurs of assent followed this. "We would be pleased to have you."

"We could have far worse," Kimiko muttered grumpily, but Koushiro could see that even she was not opposed to this idea.

After a few moments of quiet discussion, the eldest of the elders got slowly to his feet, assisted by those sitting nearest him. "If it pleases you, it pleases this council of elders," he said finally. "We welcome to you, the new lord of Hida, and hope you will be most happy here."

* * *

Once more, Shijo and Daisuke had spent the night camped on the side of the road rather than in beds of any sort. This time, it was in a forest not ten steps beyond the primary village. When the sun rose in the early morning, the village was not visible – there were only trees around them.

Daisuke had already awakened. He was holding a few long sticks out over the fire, a freshly caught fish skewered on the end of each one. The smell of food had not yet awakened V-mon, who was nonetheless mumbling contentedly in his sleep, no doubt dreaming of feasts on roasting fish.

"The village is gone?" Shijo questioned, looking back in the direction he was certain they had come from the night before. He rubbed his eyes and yawned.

"It does that," Daisuke answered. "Some sort of protection magic." He shrugged, as though to say that it was not something he knew much about or was much concerned about.

A short while later, the fish devoured and fire doused, they were on their way once more. The forest here had no path through it, but Daisuke did not seem to be concerned about getting lost. Their feet crunched through fallen leaves. All around, new growth was appearing in the form of flower buds and new leaves, and the air seemed to be growing warmer with every passing step. Shijo paused to unfasten his cloak, feeling warm.

"Don't do that," Daisuke advised him. "The sun will be brutal when we reach the desert, and you don't want to be burned."

"D-desert?" Shijo questioned, wondering if perhaps he had lost his mind. He shook his head. "You must be remembering wrong…there's no desert here!"

"Only a little further," V-mon said. "This place is weird with the magic. Hidden villages, strange weather…it's not like any place else you've been."

"That's not saying much," Koromon piped up. "We haven't been many places."

"You're in for a real surprise then!" the blue digimon answered cheerfully.

Despite the part of him that was saying that such a thing wasn't possible, Shijo found that the air was growing warmer, and the plant life around them was slowly growing sparser and sparser. More sunlight filtered through the trees until it was completely unobstructed.

"It _is_ a desert," Shijo said in surprise, his doubts completely erased. "How strange."

Before them stretched what seemed to be an endless amount of soft pale sand, and above it, a huge expanse of blue sky. The temperature was so warm now that Shijo could feel sweat beading on his forehead after only a few moments in the sunlight.

"What's that?" Koromon questioned, looking toward an odd object lying in the sand a short distance away. It was long – the length of at least four men, tapered so that it was slightly wider at the far end than the near, where it extended into a sharp point. The far end seemed to have been damaged in some way, for the solid rock was jagged and sharp as though it had been sharply broken. A few cracks extended along the length of it as well.

Shijo looked toward Daisuke for an answer to his partner's question, but instead a strange look had come over his face. The boy thought for a moment that he looked as though he were contemplating a grave – for his expression was a grim frown – a mixture of sadness and memories. V-mon, too, was frowning, shaking his head slightly.

"It's bad," the digimon answered. "Very good that it's been destroyed."

Daisuke crossed the space and hesitantly touched the smooth surface of the object. He shut his eyes as though he were remembering some unpleasant but necessary memories.

"I don't understand," Shijo said after a few moments of silence. "How could this be bad? It's only a…a rock?"

"Now, it's only a rock," V-mon answered. "Before, it was infused with dark magic – a very _powerful_ rock." This explanation didn't seem to have clarified much for the boy, but V-mon didn't know how else to explain it.

* * *

"What?" Jyou asked, staring blankly. His eyes had grown wide, his pupils small. His skin had paled a few shades so that it was now distinctly white. "How in the hell did he get…?"

"Jyou!" Palmon scolded sharply.

"Frostbite?" he went on, ignoring the plant digimon. "How is it possible to get frostbite when the ice and snow has melted? My luck! Only mine! How does this happen? I _despise_ frostbite…."

"Blue Meramon," Mimi answered. "Jyou…."

"I thought, since winter is over, there would be no more frostbite this year. I thought that we had moved on to spring colds and hay fever. It seems, however, that I was wrong. I'm going to scream. I said I would scream, and I'm going to scream…."

"Jyou…," Mimi interrupted. "Will you help or not?"

"Of course I'll help," he answered, rummaging through the back of his office for the necessary herbs, pausing only briefly in his ranting. "Tell them to heat water – lots of water – and bring blankets. Is it bad? Of course it's bad. It would never be my luck for it not to be bad."

"It's not _that _bad," Mimi told him, but it didn't seem as though he'd heard, and so she left so that she might pass on his instructions. In the hall beyond, she thought she could hear him shout a wordless cry of frustration.

"Impossible," Yamato was grunting when she arrived, for he had taken it upon himself to carry the still-sleeping Taichi in to the palace. "Impossible. Somehow…frostbite in the spring…."

"I suppose that will teach me not to go on picnics anymore," Sora said, following after him with a rather concerned expression. Her partner, Mimi noted, was not Piyomon, but had de-evolved to Pyocomon. Before Mimi could comment on this, however, Yamato noticed her, having since set Taichi down into bed.

"What did he say?"

"Heat water and bring blankets," Mimi reported. "He'll be along soon…he was finding some herbs and mumbling to himself."

"I can only imagine," Yamato sighed. "See to the water, could you?"

Sora had already opened the nearest wardrobe and began to pull out blankets. A few moments later, Jyou emerged, carrying a box full of herbs and potions in his arms, Gomamon cheerfully riding on his head, grinning.

"Something interesting and out of season!" Gomamon said, obviously far more cheerful than his partner, who was managing to glare daggers even though his target was atop his head and out of view.

"I spent _four months_ dealing with frostbite," the doctor returned, steam almost visibly rising from his head. "This is not in the least bit interesting!" Gomamon seemed unfazed by this outburst, as usual. Jyou sighed.

Mimi returned a moment later, aided by one of the servants, a pot of water nearly overflowing between them. "If someone would light a fire…this will be hot soon enough," she said, grunting under the weight of the heavy pot. With some difficulty, she and the other woman managed to hang the vessel within the fireplace, and Yamato set to work on the fire.

Sora had seated herself on a chair nearby, having piled no less than six heavy blankets atop the bed while the others worked. Pyocomon was in her lap, napping quietly, and Sora was quiet, her expression grave. She, looked pale and drawn, nearly as much so as Taichi. Mimi stepped forward and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, noting as she did so that Sora's skin was cold to the touch.

"Not too bad," Jyou was mumbling. "All right…out! I can't work with sixteen people watching me!"

"Sixteen?" Gomamon echoed. "There's hardly sixteen people here, Jyou, or are you delirious?"

"I'll show _you_ delirious," Jyou muttered.

Mimi moved to leave, noting as she did so that Sora had not moved at all from where she sat, and did not appear to have even heard the doctor's shout (an amazing feat, considering the volume of his voice). "Sora?" she said, quietly, but the other didn't seem to have heard her. "Jyou?"

Jyou glared at her with a severe frown, and then noticed Mimi's expression. He sighed heavily. "All right. _She_ can stay. I know better than to argue. Everyone else, _OUT!"

* * *

_

Not much in the way of action here, unfortunately.

Coming soon, you'll find out where Takeru ended up, get to see another 'happy little reunion' between Miyako and Ken, and, eventually, a massive battle in which _someone_ gets…whomped, for lack of a better term. It'll be painful to read, I think. I hope. Thanks for reading and reviewing.


	6. A Little Help

**Enter The Light**

**Part Six:** A Little Help

* * *

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:** _Digimon_, all related characters, merchandise, and money, is not mine. Plot is. Mostly. Don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo.

* * *

For a few moments, Takeru could see and hear nothing. There was white light all around, him, and it was far less painful for him to shut his eyes instead. His mind wandered; he felt questions returning. Where was he? Where was he going? How was he getting there?

Then, the light faded, and he found himself somewhere that he had never been before.

It was a room filled with furniture – mostly ancient, used furniture – covered with sheets and half broken. Takeru was standing in the middle of the room. A dull gray armchair with the stuffing spilling out of a slice on the arm was directly in front of him. Behind him was a tall grandfather clock that somehow was still loudly ticking in his ear despite the fact that it could easily have been more than a hundred years old. A massive table was in front of him, with a dozen or more chairs piled on top of it.

"Where are we?" Patamon questioned, and his voice echoed off the high ceiling. Takeru had not even a guess.

There was a window not far away – it would have been no more than a few steps had those few steps not been blocked by a pile of three armchairs and what looked like it might be the disassembled frame of a rather large bed – and some light was drifting through between tattered, ancient curtains. A thick layer of dust made the light hazy, though enough to see by. Wherever Takeru had landed, it was still daytime here. Briefly, he wondered how long his journey had taken, but he pushed that from his mind in favor of his more immediate concerns.

With some difficulty, he climbed over the antique armchair on to the table. When it did not break under his weight, Takeru pushed his way through the chairs piled atop it and made his way across the table. He then climbed off the table and over another three armchairs (maneuvering carefully around the bed frame) to reach the window.

Unfortunately, the view was of no use to him, even after he had wiped off a significant amount of dust and pushed aside the moth-eaten curtains. Below, he could see a wide field with farmers busily plowing and planting and tending a multitude of grains. Wherever he was, it was not Takaishi, for he could see no rice amidst the fields.

The window was easily three or four stories up, but Takeru could not be certain of exactly how high. As the tiny and cluttered room had no further windows, he decided it would be best to leave by way of the door.

"I hope I haven't landed in the middle of someone's house…I don't want them to think that I am an intruder…," he thought aloud as he began to climb over the furniture toward the door on the other side of the room.

"Or a ghost," Patamon added, giggling mischievously at the thought of secretly haunting a house.

"Well, wherever we are, it's where I'm supposed to be, right? So, maybe I'm expected."

* * *

As Miyako had been immersed in books and studies when Taichi and Sora returned, she had not been immediately aware of the chaos that had been taking place above stairs. Thus, she was rather surprised when she emerged from Koushiro's basement laboratory to find that the palace's residents were in a state of mildly confused panic.

It was not _too_ difficult to find Mimi, who, strangely enough, seemed to have become something of a beacon of sanity. She was sitting, calmly, in one of the ground floor's multiple sunrooms, steadily working on a bit of embroidery while Yamato, seated in an overstuffed couch nearby, was immersed in a pile of papers resting on the floor in front of him. The pile nearly obscured him from view, and he was mumbling to himself as he rummaged through them, occasionally tossing one of them aside, where it floated gently to the ground.

"Miyako! There you are! I was hoping you'd emerge before sundown. I think Sora will benefit greatly from your presence," Mimi greeted, setting aside the fabric she had been stitching

"Benefit?" Miyako echoed, by this time very much aware that she had missed something of great importance. Before she had a chance to further inquire about whatever she had missed, however, Mimi had gotten to her feet and taken the young mage's hand, pulling her from the room.

"Where are you going?" Yamato questioned, looking up from his papers in time to notice them depart, but Mimi had already left and not heard his question.

* * *

It had taken some time, but Takeru had managed to climb over furniture and open the door of the small, cramped room. He had then emerged into an empty hallway. There was no furniture there, but plenty of dust, and the wallpaper and paint were both peeling.

"This place, wherever it is, is old," Takeru observed, running a finger along the wall. A significant amount of dust blackened his hand when he pulled it away. "I wonder if anyone lives here at all."

"If they do, they don't clean often," Patamon answered, sneezing in the dust.

They continued down the hallway for some time until they reached a staircase, which was also lined with a significant amount of dust. After descending at least four stories, Takeru found himself in a large empty foyer. Along one wall was a massive fireplace, which looked as though it had been used recently, and blankets and other items covered the floor, as though a large group of people had been camping out in the foyer some time very recently before they had all left.

"Do you hear that?" Patamon questioned before Takeru could comment on the state of the foyer. "I think it's coming from that way. Sounds like voices."

When he listened intently, Takeru found that he, too, could hear the noises. It seemed to be coming from the outside of the building. Walking carefully to avoid the blankets and other objects that littered the floor, Takeru crossed the grand entrance hall and found the two massive doors that led to the outside. They were propped open with two heavy stones, allowing bright sunlight to stream inside the otherwise gloomy house. Beyond, large stone steps led down to the ground some distance below.

A small crowd of people was gathered on the steps, and a much larger crowd was below, peering up at those on the steps as though waiting for an announcement of some sort. Takeru leaned against the doorway of the house, not wanting to interrupt whatever was going on.

At some unspoken signal, the crowd below quieted their hums of conversation. A tall man with a long, white beard nodded to the crowd, acknowledging their attention. "People of Hida," he said then in a clear, loud voice that carried over the crowd. "We have received word from the King about the state of our homes."

There was a moment of silence following this announcement, as the old man paused to give the crowd time to absorb his words. A hum of conversation rose and then died, as the people waited to see what would next be said.

"Hida will not be given to another Lord. We will not be forced to leave our homes or to bow to the authority of another holding," the old man told them, and this received a largely favorable response from the crowd below. Some of them burst into applause, and a few shouts of agreement could be heard.

"Who then?" called a voice from the crowd.

"Who will lead us?" shouted another.

The crowd almost immediately quieted then, awaiting the answer to this very important question. Takeru looked around the edge of the doorframe so he could see more clearly and was surprised to see someone that he recognized step forward.

"I will," said the voice, quiet though clear, authoritative in a solemn voice – a voice that Takeru recognized – a voice that could provide a calm, reasonable center in the midst of insanity.

"I will," said Iori. "If you will have me."

* * *

"No," Sora said before Miyako could finish the sentence she had begun. She was looking much paler and weaker than the young mage had ever seen her look before, but the word was spoken with a strength of voice she would not have been guessed to have. "No," she said again, shaking her head.

"Sora…," Miyako interrupted, but she only shook her head harder. "I think…."

"No," she answered again, getting to her feet. "The last time you were there…the last time anyone was there, we were all nearly killed. Daisuke was wise to go without telling anyone…there's no way he would have been allowed."

"And you want to let him die, then?" Miyako retorted despite herself. "He took Shijo with him, Sora…they're probably halfway across the desert by now. It's one thing if he gets himself in danger, but an innocent boy?"

"No one said he is not foolish, too," Sora conceded. "I should hope you'd have more sense."

"I have sense!" she returned.

Sora opened her mouth to disagree at the same time that Miyako tried to defend herself. A loud argument would certainly have broken out then if Taichi had not intervened, sitting up slowly from the pillows behind him.

"Sora," he said, quietly, and shook his head slowly, almost imperceptibly. She looked at him, briefly, sighed heavily, and sat down in the chair she had recently vacated, an exhausted sort of expression on her face.

"I think that the Daisuke is traveling further East for a reason," Miyako said then in a much calmer voice. "The book of dark magic was found in the basement of the Kaiser's fortress…."

"Which was destroyed," Sora reminded her in a weary voice. "What could be there to find?"

"I don't know. Something, maybe. What I _do _know," she continued before Sora could interrupt again, "is that if we're going to find a clue to what the crystals are used for…to what Mummymon and that sorceress want them for…we're going need to find either a book of dark magic or someone who knows something about dark magic."

"One or possibly both could be found in the East," Taichi concluded. He paused, briefly. "Do you really think Ken might be there?"

"I don't know," Miyako said again, shrugging. "I haven't any clue as to where he might be now. I have some theories as to where he has been, but now?" She shrugged again, shaking her head. "Daisuke once might have been able to answer that, but now, I don't know. That's another reason to go after him."

"You had a book of dark magic before," Sora spoke up, eyes on the floor, voice tired-sounding. "You couldn't touch it, remember? What good would another book do?"

"_I _couldn't," the young mage agreed. "Daisuke _could_. If I could find him…could find a book…."

"I still don't like it," Sora said after a long silence had passed. "It's risky."

There was another silence. Taichi yawned into the silence, tired even after having spent the afternoon and early evening unconscious. "You're right," he said when he'd finally finished. "Both of you," he added quickly before an argument could commence.

"Go, if you really think it will do much good," he finally said to Miyako, "but I think it might be wise to wait a few days."

"Wait?" she echoed. "For what?"

"I don't know," he answered, shrugging lightly. "Wait and find out."

* * *

"Iori - ?" Takeru said aloud, in a voice only barely loud enough to be heard by his partner atop his head.

"People coming," Patamon noted, and Takeru saw that a small but significant crowd of people was indeed heading toward the entrance to the building – toward Takeru.

"No need to go alarming people," Takeru decided, glancing down to see that he was still dressed in his night clothes, a robe thrown on hastily. There was soot and dust and dirt splotched over him from head to toe, and a few blood stains on his robe from the cut in his hand. Quickly, he hurried across the empty entrance hall and down an empty corridor.

"So we're in Hida then?" the small digimon questioned, flying behind his partner's head. "That was where Iori and Koushiro went, wasn't it?"

"Koushiro!" he gasped, pausing briefly in his steps. He turned to face his partner. "If Koushiro's here, he might be able to figure out how I got here…what this crystal is!"

"How do we find him, though?" Patamon questioned.

"Well…," Takeru began, and then hesitated, glancing down at his wardrobe. "Good question." He turned away and continued his walk down the empty corridor.

Only a short distance down the hallway a door was ajar slightly. Fearing the presence of other people, Takeru paused before it and listened for sounds of someone beyond the door. There was no sound but distant voices of people and digimon outside the house and in the entrance hall. Cautiously, curiously, Takeru peered around the door.

The room was small but cluttered. Tall, mostly empty bookcases rose from floor to ceiling behind an ancient, dust-covered desk. A few books lay open on the desk as well as a few empty mugs and glasses that had recently been emptied of drink. There were no chairs, but a few wooden crates and boxes that stood in the small space between the door and the desk, some of which had become home to glass bottles with odd-colored liquids.

"If this isn't a wizard's space, I don't know what is," Takeru decided. He entered the room and crossed to the desk to look at the books that lay open there. He saw that the first page was filled with a nearly indecipherable mess of numbers and words that he instantly recognized as magical formulae – though he had no idea whatsoever what they meant.

"Should we wait here for him, then?"

"It is not Koushiro's style to spend much time away from his books," he answered, feeling pleased with himself. "We'll wait here. It won't be long before he returns." With that, Takeru seated himself on the wooden crate behind the desk. It was far from comfortable, but it was useful. He leaned back against the rickety bookshelf behind him and rested his feet on the desk. Before long, he was asleep despite the uncomfortable sleeping arrangements.

* * *

"Wait," Miyako mumbled to herself rather crossly. "Wait for what?"

She was pacing her bedroom – a space she had not occupied often in the last week – her mind too agitated to return to study in the wizard's laboratory.

"You'll find out when it happens," Hawkmon answered, infuriatingly calm. He was already curled peacefully into a ball at the foot of her bed, preparing to sleep. He yawned widely and shut his eyes.

Miyako muttered a not-too-polite response to this under her breath and pushed open the door to the balcony beyond her room rather than cause undue harm to her sleeping and innocent partner.

Had it been required of her to cast a spell at that moment, the young mage would have found it rather difficult – especially if it was something that required concentration – for her mind was nowhere near calm. She paced the balcony for a few moments and then sighed deeply, tired from her agitation, and leaned against the railing.

"Nothing makes any damned sense anymore," she muttered, peering down at the gardens below. A few guards were patrolling the paths below. She could distinctly see, even in the darkness, that two of them nodded briefly to each other as they crossed paths.

"How could so much change in a year?" she wondered aloud, turning her gaze to the sky. "Not even a year. Maybe I ought to simply go home."

"You couldn't," another voice contradicted from somewhere behind her, and she sighed again.

"I know," she admitted. "I'd be bored to tears within a few days, and want to leave. Once you have left that, you can't go back."

There was no response to this, and then, suddenly, she became aware of the presence of another, and turned sharply back to face the inside. "Who…?" she questioned sharply.

"You were looking for me, weren't you?" questioned the same voice as before, and when Miyako looked upwards, toward the sound of it, she saw that someone was seated on the roof directly above her room, watching her. "Even when I told you that wasn't a good idea?"

"Ken…!" Her voice was little more than a sharp intake of breath, a gasp of surprise. "Why…? How?"

He was quiet, saying nothing, and then he moved, quickly enough that she could barely track his movements, and jumped to the balcony so that he was standing only a few steps from her. "Whatever happened…," he began hesitantly, and then looked away, out toward the star-filled sky beyond the grounds. "…back there, in Motomiya…whatever that was…."

"Some sort of merge," she put in. "At least, that's what I think. It's hard to say…and Koushiro's not here…doesn't even know about it yet, I don't think."

"Something like that," he agreed. His head was still turned toward the stars, but now his eyes slowly tracked back to her. "Whatever it was, it helped with some of my…memories."

"Memories," Miyako echoed. "As though you…."

"At first, I thought that the merge…that somehow _his_ memories had become mine…but that's not the case. None of them feels _odd_ or out of place to me."

She nodded slowly. "Maybe what happened was that the memories that were restored were memories you shared."

He turned back fully to her now. "Shared?" he echoed.

"I don't know what you do or don't remember. I wasn't there for most of it. I do know, though, that you and Daisuke knew each other _before_…before all this started…before I met you, before we became Chosen. I know you were close. I'm sure there's lots of memories that you both share. Maybe this merge helped to restore the memories that you both had."

Ken was silent for a long while, considering this. He turned back to the stars and looked at the night sky for some time. "It's possible," he conceded.

Miyako watched him while he was silent, waiting to see what he would do, trying to muster her courage to say things. "If Daisuke were here," she said aloud, and shook her head. Ken seemed to pay no attention to these words.

"Why were you looking for me?" he asked instead, not turning away from the sky.

"I…m-many reasons," she answered, vaguely, suddenly finding her shoes to be rather interesting. He had turned to face her again, this time full-on, and she could feel his eyes.

"Name some," he said, not even a hint of amusement in his voice.

"I…well," Miyako began, stumbling over her words. She turned away from him so that she might not feel his presence so acutely. "I…wanted to know what had happened to you…if you were all right. I wanted…to know…I suppose I was worried."

"Hmm," he answered passively. She could feel his attention waning, wondered if he was going to leave. He had always had a habit of leaving abruptly so that she went on speaking to nothing and no one. She turned back quickly to him and saw that he had not moved save to turn his gaze again toward the stars.

"Ken," she said, her words coming out in a hurried rush before she lost her nerve to say them at all. Yet again, she wished Daisuke were here, that he could blurt them out without hesitation. "The crystals…Mummymon…I need your help, please."

He sighed. "Answers?" he said. "I haven't got any answers."

"You…she…spoke about justice for the vanquished. You said they were vanquished for a reason."

"They were sent to the shadow world," he replied. His eyes were distant, as Daisuke's had been when he'd spoken about the past he didn't remember – as though there were memories too painful to be recovered. "They were sent there because they brought about the deaths of thousands."

"Who were they?" Miyako questioned. "Why would that sorceress want to bring them here? How – ?"

He sighed again, heavily, frowning, and turned away from her, walking a few steps to the railing behind him, which he leaned back against, folding his arms. "Hundreds of years ago," he began, "the world was filled with darkness, evil. The vanquished she wants to free once roamed this world, terrorizing humans and digimon alike."

His eyes were dark, his expression grave and closed, as though he were intensely aware that he had, in another life perhaps, done the same thing. Miyako fought down the urge to speak up and try to comfort him in some way, forcing herself to listen to the rest of the story.

"The first Chosen, I think, were the ones who vanquished them, sending them through portals to the shadow world. The portals were sealed with powerful magic and then that magic was locked into crystals and scattered across Yagami. The sorceress you have met, she is neither human nor digimon, but a combination of the two."

"Her, too, then?" Miyako said. "Mummymon is the same way. The book says that he was made from the essence of a human soul and the digital material of a digimon. I suppose that explains why he can appear human."

"As can she," Ken said, nodding. "Arachnemon."

"The spider woman," she said, remembering what Koushiro and Jyou had seen in Kido. "The book says they were created…by who? From what human's soul?"

He only shook his head. "I don't know. A dark wizard of immense power, I would assume, but I know of none in Yagami."

Miyako fell silent, absorbing this new information. Ken waited a few moments before he went on.

"The crystals," he continued, "contain the magic that, if darkened, would open the portal. So long as they are in the hands of the Chosen, they are benevolent; the portal is closed."

She nodded. "It's not dark, but not good, either, easily manipulated by whoever controls it," she said, speaking more to herself than to him. "It gains power when power is nearby…but wait. In Motomiya, only Daisuke could touch the crystal. Does that not make it safe from Arachnemon and Mummymon – from darkness?"

"Darkness would only overpower the barrier," he replied.

Miyako shivered briefly, and then another question came to mind. "How many…?"

"Five," Ken answered before she had finished. "Five crystals. North, south, east, west, and one in the center of Yagami, near here. I believe that they must all be in the same place in order for the portal to be opened, but I'm not certain about that."

"For now, then, we're safe. Daisuke has one, and he's gone east." She paused, thinking. "One, here. One in Motomiya, that must have been west. Kido must have been North. There's still east and south to find….Takaishi!"

"He's gone east?" Ken echoed, having apparently not heard much more than the first part of her words. "What the hell for?"

Miyako stared at him, startled by the emotion in his voice – the first she had heard him express. For a moment, she could not speak, and then she answered, almost stumbling over her words. "I – I don't know. He left without saying…."

"Damn it," he muttered, lowering his voice only slightly. Miyako could see that there was a great purpose in his eyes now, a hint of a violent and powerful sort of anger beneath the surface, barely enough for her to be frightened of, for she knew what it was capable of. "I'm going," he told her, and then was gone.

Miyako watched him go, climbing to the roof and then away, beyond the rafters. A cool breeze danced through the previously warm night, and she shivered once more.

* * *

I have to say that I agree with the people that left reviews saying that they want more Ken. I don't think he appears nearly often enough. Unfortunately, since he was evil and then recovered, I don't think he's been in a socializing mood. Hopefully, I'll manage to break him out of that now. I plan to let him see some more action in the next few chapters, and, (if this didn't hint at it enough) I might actually work more on the whole him and Miyako thing.

Till next time, thanks for reading, reviewing.


	7. Why Have You Come Here?

**The Crystal Gate**

**Part Eight: **Why Have You Come Here?

* * *

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie: **_Digimon _is not mine, but the plot is. Don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo.

* * *

A large celebration had begun almost immediately after the announcement, and Iori had been whisked away from the steps of the mansion, back into the entrance hall. The villagers seemed to be largely overjoyed by the news that he would soon be the new lord of Hida. Although Koushiro noticed a few in the crowd who were not as cheerful as most of the people present, none who dissented made their voices heard.

It was late afternoon before the wizard was able to slip away from the crowds and make his way to the room he'd set up as his own. Iori was surrounded by a crowd of people as he had been all evening – women offering to sew him fine clothes, men who hoped to find favor with the new lord, and even a few who offered their daughters as possible wives. Although a bit overwhelmed, Iori seemed to be holding his own, and so Koushiro felt no guilt leaving him to the crowds.

Though not a very social person by nature, Koushiro had another reason for leaving the festivities. He had sensed a strange, unrecognizable sort of magic somewhere inside the mansion. Although it had immediately dissipated and faded, the brief surge of power had alarmed and concerned him, as he had sensed no one with even the faintest hint of magic in Hida before then.

Thus, it was a completely unexpected surprise for the wizard to find someone sleeping in the room, feet resting on the rickety desk, head leaning against the bookshelf behind. After a moment in which the initial shock wore off, Koushiro recognized that the stranger was Takeru, and wondered how he had managed to enter the building without anyone noticing a visitor and why no one had sent word he was coming. Almost immediately, this thought was replaced by the knowledge that the visitor was dressed in nightclothes and a crumpled robe, and thus it was unlikely that he had recently stepped off a carriage.

"Takeru - ?"

He opened his eyes almost immediately, and, expecting as one ordinarily does to awake in a comfortable bed, promptly fell off the crate he had been sitting on. Thankfully, it was only a short distance to the floor and so he was not badly injured, although he did manage to bang his head soundly on the bookcase behind him as he fell.

"Ow," he mumbled, rubbing the back of his head, and yawned. He gingerly took his hand away and saw, thankfully, that no blood had been spilled. "Today's not my day, is it?"

"Doesn't appear that way," Koushiro answered dryly. Stepping around the desk, the wizard held out one hand to help his visitor to his feet. "Do you often travel in your nightclothes? Is it a new fashion of some sort?"

"I'm trying to start it," Takeru answered, grinning. When Koushiro only shook his head, he shrugged. "I didn't think about it when I left, actually," he confessed sheepishly. "By the time I realized it, I was here, and it was too late and anyway I don't know how to get back."

"How _did_ you get here?" Tentomon questioned, hovering as always a short distance above his partner's head.

"I was sort of hoping you'd be able to answer that," he admitted, rummaging in the pocket of his robe as he spoke. "Some sort of magic…." He found the crystal and held it out for the wizard to examine.

Koushiro raised one eyebrow. "You…?" he asked, taking the shiny object.

"Yes," Patamon answered, having sleepily awakened from his perch within the bookshelf. "Amazing, isn't it?"

Takeru could see that the wizard was having a hard time dissecting this information. He spent some time looking at the crystal itself and then looked up at the one who had brought it. "Are you telling me that you managed to harness the energy of this crystal to come all the way from the palace?"

"No," Takeru answered, shaking his head. "I don't know what I did or how I did it, and I came from Takaishi, not the palace."

"Takaishi?" he echoed. "That's…nearly two weeks journey from here by carriage, isn't it?"

"I suppose," came the answer with a shrug. "Didn't take me that long, though. Assuming that today is the same day that I left, and I think it is, I left Takaishi in the early morning, about three hours past sunrise, maybe four. I'm not sure exactly. We arrived here…I suppose it was around noon?" He glanced toward Patamon, who shrugged, not having paid any attention whatsoever to the time. "Made it downstairs in time to witness the announcement Iori made on the front steps."

"A bit after noon, yes," Koushiro answered, nodding. He sat down on the nearest rickety crate. It creaked loudly but didn't collapse. "You have absolutely no idea how you did that?"

Again he shrugged, and then recounted the morning's events – from his awakening in the middle of the night to the battles with fire to the appearance of Mummymon and the sorceress and then the finding of the crystal. "After the battle was over and the Musyamon were gone, I had this feeling I needed to be somewhere else. Next thing I knew, I was here. I guess this is where I need to be."

Koushiro shook his head slowly. "If it was for explanations, you came to the wrong place," he answered. "So far as I can tell, you somehow harnessed the power of the crystal. How you managed to do that, I don't know."

* * *

The desert was, as Shijo had always imagined a desert to be, endless and empty. The sun was relentless, the heat intense.

They had seen nothing. No digimon, no cacti, no bones, no mirages. Nothing but sand, rolling hills of sand as far as the eye could see. Every so often there was a brief gust of wind that cooled the skin, and Daisuke would pause as though listening for something, and then continue walking when it had stopped.

Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity and a half, the sun began to sink behind them, and the air began to cool. There was no sign of any place to take shelter, and so Daisuke paused abruptly and set down the bag he had been carrying at no place in particular and then sat down beside it. Shijo looked around him and saw nothing but sand and so sat down as well.

They had filled their canteens before leaving the forest, but they had not replenished their food supplies, and so there was only a little water and some three-day-old fruit and dried fish meat to eat. They ate the meat first, and then the fruit because it was less salty, and drank a little of the water. There was no wood to light a fire with, nothing to burn, not even cacti. Shijo pulled his cloak tightly around his arms as the temperature steadily plummeted.

There was no sound but the wind as it occasionally danced over the sand. Daisuke didn't seem inclined to sleep and Shijo, not wishing to disturb him, didn't dare break the silence asking questions that had so far not managed to be answered. Before long, both their digimon had fallen asleep in the sand and were snoring softly. Then it was dark, with only the stars overhead for light.

Shijo laid down in the sand, which despite everything still managed to be a bit warmer than the air, and looked up at the sky. With nothing to interfere with them, not even firelight, they seemed brighter and closer than they ever had at home. For a few moments he lost himself in the stars. Without even being aware of it, he said, "They're beautiful."

"Hmm," Daisuke agreed, sounding tired or maybe only distracted. "I never noticed before."

"You spent the night in the desert before?" Shijo boldly questioned.

"Hmm," he said again, which sounded like an affirmative answer. "Mostly days, though. Walked across the whole of it."

"What's on the other side?" he wondered.

"Snow."

* * *

Somehow (Takeru never did find out how) Koushiro managed to find him a set of clothes that was neither far too small nor far too large. The pants were a few inches too long and the sleeves of the tunic did not come past his elbows, but it was better than walking about in his robe, and so Takeru didn't complain. He had put on his own shoes and socks before his unexpected departure, which was fortunate as finding shoes would have been difficult and it was still a bit too cold to go barefoot. Even properly dressed, he and Koushiro decided with little debate that it would not be wise to confuse the villagers with his appearance (and no carriage to arrive in). Thus, he remained in the wizard's makeshift office-laboratory and busied himself by rummaging through some paperwork.

Shortly after sunset the celebration seemed to wind down and the villagers whose homes had been rebuilt wandered back to their new houses for the evening. Those who were still taking shelter in the entrance hall began to settle down for the night. Koushiro managed to locate Iori, who was looking a bit tired and overwhelmed, and persuaded him to leave the hall.

Takeru had finished perusing a particularly ancient book he found on the bookshelf. The office, it seemed, had once belonged to an accountant or secretary, and the books were largely ledgers keeping track of the former Lord's money. Not being of a financial mind himself, Takeru thumbed through the numbers quickly and tossed them aside. He had finished doing so with a dozen or so identical navy blue binders when Iori finally arrived in the office.

"It's a mystery," Koushiro was saying, in the middle of his sentence when they arrived. "Obviously the crystal has something to do with it, but how it was managed to be activated, I've _no_ idea whatsoever."

"Takeru?" Iori said in the exact tone of voice Koushiro had used before – a mixture of disbelief and astonishment. He didn't bother to follow up with questioning how he had come to be there, as this was what Koushiro had obviously been explaining when he came in.

Setting aside the last of the ledgers, Takeru got to his feet, grinning. "I'm as surprised as you are," he admitted. "Seems this is where I'm needed. Congratulations, Iori, or should I say Lord Hida?"

"Needed?" Iori echoed, glancing toward Koushiro.

"Takeru seems to think that the crystal brought him here because this is where he's meant to be. I have, as I said, no idea whatsoever why he needs to be here," the wizard explained, shaking his head slightly to indicate his bewilderment.

"Surely there must be something I could do here," the unexpected visitor put in. "Even emptying your upstairs rooms."

"I managed to clear out the Bakemon," Iori answered, taking a seat on one of the crates in the room. "The rest of the junk I'd need help with. You could help clean, if that's what you want. This place is a mess. I'm tempted to burn it down and start over…."

"Oh, don't," Koushiro interrupted. "There's history here, you know. It wouldn't be wise to dispose of it all."

Iori sighed, suddenly looking tired. "No, and it would take a hundred years more to build a house – assuming this one doesn't fall down." He stared blankly toward Takeru for a few moments. "In a way, I'm glad you're here. I haven't a clue what I'm doing."

"No one does," Takeru answered. "I'm sure I don't. I'll help in any way I can."

* * *

Though it was late, Miyako traveled downstairs once more, leaving Hawkmon to his sleep in her bedroom. Before long, she found herself in Koushiro's laboratory, the candles lit. It felt cold and quiet, empty of people.

There was a bottle of ink and a pen on the table mixed in with the piles of books she had already sifted through, and a pile of parchment on one of the bookshelves behind her. Taking up the pen, she dipped it in the half-dried ink and scratched down the important points – what she could remember – of what Ken had told her.

_Five crystals. North, South, East, West, and Center._ _North – Kido. South – Takaishi? East - ? West – Motomiya._

She set down the pen and looked at what she had written for a long moment. Then, she felt tiredness overtake her and she laid her head down on the table and shut her eyes. Before long, without realizing it, she had fallen asleep.

When she awoke, the candles had burned down to only stumps and her neck felt sore and stiff after what had undoubtedly been hours of sleep. Hawkmon was in the doorway, frowning severely at her. It must have been his shout that awakened her.

The bird digimon shook his head with an expression, Miyako thought, rather like her mother's. "I thought you were going to sleep in a bed," he said. "Upstairs."

"I was," she answered groggily, rubbing the sore spots on her neck. "Then I was distracted by a visitor." She showed him the paper she had written on the night before. "Ken."

He examined it with narrowed eyes, and then sighed. "Now what?"

"Now, I think he's gone East, too. I think I should follow as soon as possible."

Now Hawkmon cast his gaze over his partner with a slightly disapproving look in his eyes. He sighed again, giving in to her wishes, and followed her from the room before she left him behind.

* * *

Only a few minutes after the sun appeared over the distant sand dunes, the air was hot beyond hot and drier than dry. Shijo awoke to find himself bathed in sweat, his mouth dry, his cloak uncomfortably clinging to his bare arms, sand scratching at his scalp. He had never so much longed for a bath.

Daisuke had gotten to his feet a moment before and was squinting through the bright sunlight, eyes scanning the distant horizon. He turned northward for a bit, and then to the south. "Which way?" he mumbled.

Shijo felt a momentary twinge of panic somewhere in his stomach. They had barely enough food to last the day – certainly not enough water – and the desert seemed to have no end. He had been following under the assumption that Daisuke knew not only his destination but how to get there (despite his claims to the contrary). Now, suddenly, he realized the grimness of their situation – in the midst of the desert, easily a day's walk back to the forest and the village, who knew how many days further before they reached the end.

As though sensing what was going on in the boy's mind, Daisuke glanced toward him briefly, noting that he'd awakened. "You can go back, you know."

Briefly, Shijo considered, but realized that he was not certain of the direction from which they'd come. Even if he made it as far as the woods, the Primary Village was not likely to appear to him again, and he would probably die if he tried to walk all the way home. He shook his head. "No," he said finally. "I'd rather stay with you."

"He's crazy," V-mon said, lying in the sand, eyes shut. "Like you."

"Seems that way," Daisuke agreed, shrugging, and went back to scanning the horizon. Shijo pulled himself to his feet, his legs wearily wobbling beneath him. He took the smallest of sips from his canteen and found his thirst quenched not even in the slightest. With some difficulty, he put it away.

The desert seemed as empty as it had the evening before. There was no sign of life, not even the occasional burst of wind. The sky above was clear with only a few faint clouds, high up. All around was nothing but sand. Distantly, somewhere toward what he guessed was northeast, he spotted something other than sand. It was hard to make out from so far away, but it looked like a black blur poking above the sand.

"What's that?" he wondered, pointing, and Daisuke turned to follow his gaze, squinting in the glare of the bright sun. Oddly enough, a grin spread across his face.

"That's the way we're heading," he stated firmly. "Let's go." With that, he hefted his bag and began to walk in that direction.

"What is it?" Shijo asked, wondering even as he spoke if it was a pointless sort of question to be asked, either because Daisuke didn't know or because he didn't feel like answering.

"It's a dark tower," V-mon said, having climbed on to his partner's shoulders. "We saw one before, demolished, at the edge of the forest, remember? That's one that's still standing."

"A tower? In the middle of the desert? Who would – why would anyone build towers in the desert? Did someone live there?"

"No, it wasn't that sort of tower," the blue digimon answered, shaking his head and peering down at the boy.

"It was built of evil," Daisuke said before V-mon could attempt to explain further, a strange look in his eyes. "Forged with dark magic, made of hatred and sadness." He shook his head.

"W-what was it for?" Shijo stammered, knowing that the answer to this question was not a pleasant one.

V-mon hesitated for a few moments, thinking of the right words. "It was for holding magic," Daisuke answered instead. He sighed. "It's a bit of a history lesson, if you can believe that."

"History?" V-mon echoed indignantly. "So it's ancient history now, is it? It was only last season! Now I feel old."

"All the same, it's in the past," his partner said, shrugging. "Hard though that is to believe."

"What happened?" Shijo questioned, having the increasing feeling that he knew way too little about anything.

Daisuke took a deep breath, as though preparing himself for something difficult. He glanced toward Shijo briefly, and he hurried quickly to catch up. "It's a long story," he said, "but we have a long walk, and so I suppose it's a way to pass the time."

"I'm interested," the boy assured him.

Then, suddenly, a sharp burst of wind came unbidden across the desert from the west. It was a cold breeze, for which they were all grateful, and yet it was a strong one, that scattered the sand in the air and blinded them momentarily.

"Damn it," Daisuke muttered under his breath, barely loud enough to be heard. He pulled his cloak around him to shield himself from the tiny speeding granules of sand. "Keep your eyes shut," he advised, shouting over the wind. "And your mouth. Shield your face."

"What is this?" Shijo wanted to know, but the wind took his words and they vanished into the desert, unanswered.

"Sandstorm!" V-mon shouted.

The wind died abruptly, the air once again becoming silent and still. Shijo ventured to open his eyes and saw that a young woman was standing before him, brushing the sand from her skirts, a small bird digimon following behind her. After a moment, he recognized her.

Daisuke recognized her, too, but seemed displeased to see her. "Were you trying to kill us outright or simply bury us in sand?" he demanded.

Miyako peered at him with narrowed eyes, an expression of equal displeasure in her own eyes. "Nice to see you, too," she said with the barest hint of civility in her tone. "If I wanted you dead, Daisuke, I would have left you to your own devices. You'd do a far better job of it on your own."

His own eyes narrowed as he met her gaze and fought with one of his own. Shijo stared with round eyes. "I don't recall asking you to interfere," he retorted. "I was planning," and here he glanced briefly toward Shijo, "on making this journey alone."

"Yes, and that's the wisest decision I've ever heard you make!" she returned. Daisuke turned away from her and took a few steps in the direction he had been walking. Shijo watched him go, glancing hesitantly toward Miyako. "Does Hikari know where you are?"

He stopped, as though the mention of Hikari were enough to bring him to his senses. "I don't know what she knows and doesn't know," he answered. He took a deep breath, as though to compose himself before he turned around to face her. "Why have you come here?"

"Why have _you_?"

He didn't answer, though not, Shijo could see, because he didn't have one. For a moment, a war seemed to be waging in his eyes, and then he shrugged.

Miyako sighed and shook her head. "I don't know whether to be pleased or annoyed with you," she told him, earning another angry glance from Daisuke. It was clear he wanted to inform her that he didn't particularly care about her opinion, and he opened his mouth to do precisely that.

"I saw Ken last night," the young mage interrupted before he could speak. "I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if he's on his way here at this very moment. He seemed rather displeased that you were heading this way."

"Why did you tell him, then?"

"He helped me, and so I helped him," she answered simply. "Do you still have that crystal? Could I see it?"

He did, and he held it out to her. Miyako pushed her spectacles even lower on her nose so that she was now seeing over them instead of half-through them as she usually did. Without taking the object in her hand, she squinted towards it and then shut her eyes, feeling the magic in the air.

"There's another one around here, is that what you're telling me?" Daisuke questioned, his anger and frustration briefly replaced with curiosity.

"Ken says that there are five crystals," she answered, not opening her eyes, not breaking her concentration. "North, South, East, West, and Center. Here is about as far east as I can imagine going without hitting the ocean."

Daisuke frowned deeply, although whether he was displeased with the information or the source it had come from Shijo could not tell. "There are no villages here," he told her. "I thought you had said that the crystals were related to the Chosen villages."

"That's what I thought," Miyako agreed. Her voice was calm, somehow managing to convey infinite patience even thought a few moments ago she had seemed as though she might be willing to argue with Daisuke all night. "Yet, it seems I was wrong. I do sense a crystal near here."

"Good," he said shortly, obviously still displeased with her appearance, and stuffed the crystal back into his pocket. "You can go and find it then, and leave me in peace."

"Don't you want to find it?" she questioned in surprise.

"Not particularly," he replied, and was already several steps away. "If you're coming, Shijo, better hurry, or we won't make it by nightfall."

"Oh, right," the boy said. He glanced apologetically toward the mage and then followed quickly after, not wishing to be left behind. Daisuke had already nearly disappeared behind a nearby sand dune.

Miyako sighed heavily. "Infuriating," she muttered to Hawkmon, watching him go. "He has to regain the most disagreeable parts of his personality first."

* * *

Not so much action in this chapter, but I'm mostly happy with it, and there'll be some major, painful battles coming up in the near future, so I can deal with this.

Well, it seems people were really happy to see Ken again! He's not in this chapter, unfortunately, but he'll show up again before long, so stay tuned. Thanks for all the reviews on the last chapter, and thanks for reading.


	8. A Feeling of Impending Doom

**The Crystal Gate**

**Part Eight:** A Feeling of Impending Doom

* * *

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:** _Digimon_, all characters and profit made from it, is not mine. The plot of this story is (mostly) mine. Don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo.

* * *

It was late afternoon, the sun unbearable, when they reached the tower that had been a blur in the distance that morning. Despite the fact that the sun was only barely beginning to sink and there was no wind, Shijo felt goose bumps appear on his skin and shivered as though he were cold.

"It's the dark magic," V-mon told him, shaking his head. He looked up at his partner. "Are we going to get rid of it?" he asked.

Daisuke had been sullen since that morning's reunion with Miyako, and had not, after all, explained things to Shijo as he had originally intended. He had barely spoken two words since he'd stormed away from the mage. Even now, he had a severe frown on his face as he peered up at the tower before them. He took a deep breath as though preparing himself for something, and nodded.

"Let's hope this is as easy as it looks to be," he mumbled under his breath. "Digimental up!"

"Woo!" V-mon half-cheered. Shijo squinted as a bright light almost blinded him. Beyond the light, which oddly enough seemed to be making noise, he could hear the digimon shouting. "V-mon armor evolve! Fladramon!"

"Wow," both Shijo and his partner Koromon gasped in near unison. When the light had faded, a tall, two-legged digimon with stylized orange flames on his arms and legs had appeared in place of V-mon.

The exciting things were still yet to come, however. "Fire Rocket!" shouted Fladramon, aiming one of his fists in the direction of the tower before him. A ball of fire sped from his arm and slammed into the dark, polished surface of the tower. Almost immediately, a crack ran up the side of the object, but it didn't break entirely.

"Watch out," Fladramon advised, leaping into the air and running to another side of the tower. "This will fell it for sure. Fire Rocket!" Another fireball crashed into this side of the tower, this one with more power. The crack that had formed originally grew wider, and a second crack appeared near the bottom.

For a moment, the dark obelisk swayed and teetered and then it fell to the ground as though it were a tree that had been chopped down. The once formidable tower was now nothing more than a crumbled mess on the ground.

"Probably the easiest one ever," Daisuke noted, looking around as though he expected enemies to jump from under the sand and attack. He shrugged. "Ah well. Good job."

Another white light surrounded Fladramon, and then he was V-mon once more. "Thanks," he said, grinning. "I was hoping to get some action on this trip."

"Let's hope for no more than that," his partner answered, frowning.

"Now what?" Shijo asked, for there was nothing else in the area but more sand. They were in the middle of a valley at the moment, tall dunes surrounding them on every side.

* * *

Miyako had chosen a faster way of travel than walking, and taken to the air immediately. Holsmon soared over the empty desert. Although she felt some concern about leaving Daisuke to his own devices, it had been clear that he wanted no assistance, and so she did as he wished, promising herself that she would find him again before nightfall.

From the air, she had easily spotted the tower that Daisuke and Shijo were heading in the direction of, but her more immediate concern was to follow the magic of the crystal while she still could. "He's walked through the desert on his own before, survived far worse than this," she said, defending her actions more to herself than Holsmon. "I'm sure he'll be fine, right?"

"Let's only hope Hikari feels the same way you do," her partner answered gravely, and Miyako frowned.

"She wouldn't – I mean, she did want him to find himself, didn't she? Hikari wouldn't have left if she didn't think…Oh I don't know," she finally confessed, frustrated. "I can't force him to come with me, and I can't follow him around. It's not as though he's a child, right?"

"I suppose," Holsmon agreed. "I see something down there, if you're interested."

"Of course I'm interested," Miyako scolded, peering over the edge of her partner's wings. "Do you suppose that's it?"

"If it is," he said, "then Daisuke is headed in the right direction." She peered over the opposite side to see that he and Shijo were indeed heading in that direction, although it would likely take them a few hours to reach it.

What she saw appeared from the sky to be no more than a pile of rocks in the sand, and yet she knew from experience it was much larger on the ground than it seemed to be from the air. "It looks," she said slowly, "like some sort of wreckage, the ruins of some building that was once very big. I suppose it could be what we're looking for. I do sense ancient magic there. Dark magic."

"It's worth looking into, nonetheless," Holsmon answered. "I don't remember there being many buildings in this desert, so if that's wreckage of something, it's likely the wreckage we're looking for. It's not far from the snow boundary, after all."

The snow of the far north at the edge of the desert was a short distance to the north, as it had been when Miyako had briefly seen this building standing before a combination of Chimeramon, Magnamon, and many other digimon had succeeded in destroying not only the Kaiser's fortress but the Kaiser himself. Since then, no one had ventured back to the desert, to this place…except for perhaps Ken.

When it had been standing, the building had inspired in Miyako a great deal of fear; now the wreckage seemed to be engulfed in a miasma of sadness. Holsmon landed some distance away and de-evolved. For a few moments, Miyako only stared, lost in memories as well as magic, and Hawkmon didn't speak. She thought that she would not have been surprised to hear Ken's voice now, but it was not likely that he had come this far as quickly as she had, unless he knew of some magic.

"Is the crystal in there?" Hawkmon questioned, and she nodded, mutely, having lost interest for the moment in spoken words. He noticed that she took a deep breath and clenched both her hands tightly before she began to walk, slowly, toward the building.

* * *

Takeru spent the whole of his first day in Hida cleaning. After introducing himself to everyone of importance and explaining (not precisely untruthfully) that he had come in the middle of the night to be of help to Iori, he volunteered to lead a large group of people, mostly women and children, and coordinate the cleaning efforts. Despite the cluttered, dusty state of the upstairs, the first floor was in a horrid enough state that it would be wise to begin there and work upwards.

Meanwhile, the workers who had been brought in from the capital and the rest of the kingdom worked diligently to rebuild the homes and shops that had been destroyed. The village men who did not assist the outside workers tended the fields as they had done before the Tyrannomon attacks. Women, seamstresses, and tailors worked with the large amount of fabric that had been brought in to create hundreds of blankets and rugs and curtains and clothes that had been destroyed by the fire. Those who were not already occupied with these tasks helped Takeru.

The first thing to do was to clear out the furniture that was no longer usable, and then to mash this into firewood. The furniture, little though there was, which was salvageable was set aside so that it could be repaired and restored. After the rooms had been emptied, buckets upon buckets of water were brought in so that the floors and walls and windows could be washed. This took a significant amount of effort, but after a few hours, the room sparkled. Takeru divided his forces into three groups and set each group a room to focus on. By the time the sun began to set, three more rooms were cleaned and ready to be occupied.

Feeling exhausted, Takeru found himself a spot to sit in the middle of the entrance hall. He leaned against the wall and rested for a few moments. Already the smell of food was filling the hall, awakening his stomach and his hunger. He was certain that he had not worked the hardest of the cleaners, and yet he felt tired.

'_It must be that I am not used to hard work like that_,' he thought to himself, and wondered for the first time if maybe Hida and Iori did not need him, but he needed this place. Before he had time to think further on this subject, however, a cheer arose from the large doorway and the leader of the builders entered the hall.

"I am pleased to announce," he said in a loud clear voice, "that I was commissioned to build three hundred buildings, and three hundred buildings have been built."

A very large cheer rose up from the villagers at this statement, and Takeru joined in the clapping, watching as the crowd parted to let the builder cross the room. He could see between the people well enough to watch as Iori shook hands with the builder, thanking him and his men for their hard work.

"If my tavern were open," said a man near Takeru with a loud voice, "I would offer a free drink to every one of those who has helped us." He shook his head. "Unfortunately, I have no ale to serve them!"

"Did none of it survive the fires?" a woman questioned.

"Some," he admitted. "Most was destroyed, though, and that what survived has already been drunk!" He seemed to find this hilarious, and burst into hearty laughter. Several men who had been standing nearby joined in.

Even without liquor, the crowd seemed to find the meal prepared to be well up to standards, as loud conversation continued for some time. When everyone had eaten but no one had left, a few of the villagers got up and provided entertainment. Two women who had worked in the village tavern serenaded the crowd with a joyful number, accompanied not by instruments (which had been destroyed in the attack) but joined by a large number of other people. Apparently, the song they sung was very popular and well known to patrons of the tavern.

A few other songs were taken up, and then an old man climbed (with some assistance) to the top of a crate and motioned the crowd to be silent. A solemn hush fell over the crowd as the villagers seemed to be aware that the time for celebration had nearly finished.

"My friends," said the man, who Takeru recognized as having been on the steps the afternoon before. "This will be our last night spent intruding upon the hospitality of our generous host and new Lord."

A loud burst of applause and cheering followed this statement. Takeru found Iori in the crowd and saw that he was bowing humbly.

"Our homes and businesses have been rebuilt," the eldest of the elders continued. "We have worked well as a community, and without that, Hida would have long ago faltered and died."

Another burst of applause interrupted this as the people congratulated each other on their work. Several men standing nearby turned to shake hands with each other, and a few of the women hugged each other.

"Let us not forget this spirit of community in the months to come," the old man went on. "For though we have rebuilt the buildings, there is still much work to do if we are to prosper. I have no doubt that we will succeed, and under our new leadership!"

The loudest burst of applause and cheering came then as the people congratulated each other and cheered their new Lord. Feeling exhausted and sensing that the celebration was not likely to finish for a few more hours, Takeru got to his feet and left the hall in search of a quiet place to sleep.

* * *

The sun was nearly sunk and the stars were high overhead. Miyako waited at the edge of the ruins she had spotted from the air, sitting on a large stone that had once been part of the tall towers. She was waiting for Daisuke, for she knew that he and Shijo would undoubtedly be arriving at this place before long, and she was meditating, taking the time to magically examine the ruins.

It was, as she sensed, ancient dark magic that had held the building itself together. Although she could sense a few small threads of Ken, most of the magic involved was from centuries before their time. It was powerful to have survived so long and still be present strong enough so that she could sense it so well.

She could hear footsteps in the sand behind her, slow and shuffling through the sand, and knew that Daisuke was there, though he didn't speak. When she opened her eyes, she saw that it was significantly darker than it had been when she'd arrived.

"You're here," she said, not glancing back in his direction. "Now what?" Miyako held out her right hand, concentrated, and after a moment a small flame appeared, floating in midair above her palm. Slowly, it grew larger, though it was still small. She'd taken a lot of magical energy to travel out to the desert; she couldn't keep a fire together forever, but it was enough to see by.

"I don't know," Daisuke answered, his voice still sharp, as though he was most displeased to find her there. He took a few steps toward the ruins and stopped abruptly, inhaling sharply.

Shijo, confused, ventured to ask, "What's wrong?"

He shivered, shook his head, and stepped backward two steps. "We'll wait until morning," he decided.

"You can feel it, can't you?" Miyako questioned of him, not having moved from her seat. "You spent enough time engulfed in it, too, didn't you? Surely you can sense it. It's faint, but powerful."

He didn't answer immediately. She thought she could see something on his face – pain? Confusion? She wasn't sure. He turned away from the ruins and she could see by the firelight that there was a strange look in his eyes she was not used to seeing.

A moment passed, and it was gone, his eyes almost blank, almost lifeless again. Miyako shivered, wondering what he was feeling.

"I'm not eager to venture in myself," she said, her voice quiet, as though she were consoling him. "Not without Ken…or at least Hikari. At the very least, I think it'd be best if we wait until daylight."

He sighed heavily and sat down on another large stone. After a moment, Shijo (who'd felt nothing, magical or otherwise, and was thus rather confused) sat down as well.

"Did you bring anything to eat?" Daisuke questioned after a long period of silence. "Or at least some water?"

She shook her head, though smiling slightly. "How would you have managed without me?" she wondered.

Daisuke only shrugged. "I was planning on coming alone," he said again, glancing briefly toward Shijo. "I brought enough for one."

Shijo studied his feet with an incredible amount of interest not usually given to feet.

* * *

The celebration had gone on late into the night even without the assistance of alcohol, and Takeru, who felt far too tired to join in any sort of partying, retreated as far as possible from the entrance hall. He found a mostly-empty, half-cleaned room and found that when he shut the door it largely blocked the sounds of voices from beyond.

Patamon was already asleep atop his usual perch on his partner's head, and did not waken when he was lifted from that perch and set on the floor. He simply rolled over, snoring lightly. Takeru, having carried in a blanket and a candle to see by, set the blanket on the ground and fell asleep within minutes, not even bothering to put out the candle.

It was some time later that he awoke, shivering. The candle had burned down to a stub of wax. Patamon was awake, peering through the tall window on the northern wall, looking out at the night beyond the glass.

"Why's it so cold?" Takeru mumbled crossly, pulling the blanket over his shoulders. He got to his feet and stumbled over to the window in the near darkness.

"Something evil's coming, I think," Patamon answered gravely. "The cold sinks right through to the bones."

He shivered, yawned, and squinted through the window. It was covered with twenty years' worth of dust, and beyond the starlight was faint, half concealed by clouds. Not much was visible beyond some nearby trees. "Sure it's not because we're so far north, the mountains nearby?" he asked hopefully.

"Doubtful," Patamon answered, turning to look up at his partner. "We should go."

"Yeah, I thought you might say that," his partner agreed with a sigh. He pulled the blanket around him like a cloak to shield against the cold and put on his shoes, the only bit of clothing he'd bothered to remove before falling asleep. Patamon took his usual spot atop Takeru's head.

The rest of the house beyond the room seemed quiet. The villagers had apparently all returned to their homes or fallen asleep, and the corridors were devoid of people and digimon of all sorts. Immediately, Takeru thought to look for Koushiro, but before he had reached the wizard's room, there was the sound of a loud explosion in the distance.

The calm silence was interrupted nearly immediately by the sound of a baby crying somewhere in the distance. Some of the villagers who were still camped out in the entrance hall had obviously been awakened. Takeru, now fully awake, was at Koushiro's door a half-second later.

A half-second after that, Koushiro had emerged from the room and was standing in the hallway. "Let's go," he said simply, and in the light from the candle he held, Takeru could see that Tentomon was following after him.

The entrance hall was slowly awakening to a state of mild panic. A few children and babies had awakened and begun to cry, but many of the adults seemed oblivious to whatever threat might be lurking here. Iori emerged into the hall at almost the exact time that Takeru reached it. Saying nothing, he nodded toward both of them, and Takeru understood immediately that it would not be wise to agitate the villagers and cause further panic.

The night air was cold, the sun only barely hinting at its imminent arrival and doing nothing to warm the air or give light to the area. Iori quietly shut the heavy doors behind them and, dropping the false calmness he'd been portraying within, asked Koushiro in a near whisper: "Where'd it come from?"

"North," Takeru said before the wizard could answer. He was looking in that direction, and, though he was not sure why he had said so, he felt absolutely certain of it, for the cold air seemed to be coming from that direction. Above, Patamon nodded once in agreement.

Iori stared at him blankly for a brief moment, but Koushiro nodded. "Let's go north, then," he decided.

The height of flight did not provide the expected assistance. There was nothing to suggest what had caused the recent explosion, nothing to even suggest that an explosion had occurred. Takeru wondered if he had imagined the entire thing, and then recalled that it was night, and therefore rather difficult to see.

The air was colder in the sky, and the further north they went the colder it seemed to be. Absently, Takeru wondered how far they were from the Northern Kingdom's border, and then hoped that some attacking army from that kingdom had not caused the explosion. He certainly didn't want to become involved in the beginnings of a war.

"There!" Iori called, pointing at some dark spot in the sky that was becoming larger and larger the further they went.

"What is it?" Takeru shouted across the distance between Pegasmon and Kabuterimon, who carried Iori and Koushiro.

"Can't tell," Iori answered, squinting through the darkness. "Looks a bit familiar…sort of...sort of like…."

"Like Airdramon," Armadimon finished in a low voice only barely heard over the wind.

"It does," Koushiro agreed, his frown so serious Takeru could see it in the darkness. "What could they be doing up here…?"

"Causing trouble, maybe," Takeru theorized. "Here comes one. Maybe…."

But the rest of his sentence was cut off as the serpentine flyer rushed past him at such a speed he barely had time to blink. In the dim light, it was hard to see, but he was fairly certain there was a human rider on the back of it.

"It's possible he didn't see us," Pegasmon suggested, but this theory was proven to be false almost immediately as the Airdramon turned around in midair and zoomed past them from the opposite direction. This time, the rider was clearly visible, and Takeru caught sight of some long, thin object before he felt something connect solidly with his head. He began to feel rather dizzy, and the next thing he knew, he was falling.

* * *

To the great disappointment of everyone present, the ruins of what had once been a formidable fortress did not look or feel the least bit friendlier when the sun had risen.

Miyako had, thankfully, brought enough food to last for a few days, and so they lingered for a bit over the meal. It was nearly two hours past sunrise by the time they finished, each person present having taken quite a bit longer to eat than might usually be expected.

Except for Shijo. The boy had devoured his food and drank a rather large gulp of water with all deliberate speed, being that he was quite hungry and quite eager to be on the move again. If not for him, he wondered if the others would ever have managed to get up and head toward the ruins.

He still didn't understand what these stones lying around were, why they were there, or what purpose going further into the pile of them would serve, but he was sure that there would be some sort of adventure within, and he was not about to turn down the possibility of adventure.

After what seemed like an eternity, Miyako got to her feet and said, "We cannot sit here all day. If we're going, let's go before night falls again and we run out of food. I don't plan to die here."

Daisuke sighed heavily as though preparing himself for some difficult task and got to his feet as well. "Let's do it," he said, turning towards the ruins in question. After a moment, he began to walk toward the pile of heavy bricks and stones, his face schooled into a determined expression.

"It seems as though there is a dark aura around the building that grows stronger the closer you get to the center," Miyako said, more to distract herself than because either Daisuke or Shijo had shown any interest. "It's very old. If I had to guess, I'd say it's about as old as the magic that caused the weather barrier between the woods and the desert. In fact," she went on, the idea occurring to her even as she spoke it, "I would not be surprised if this magic created the barrier between the snow and the desert. I never had much chance to examine that one." She frowned in thought, considering this for a moment.

Daisuke looked toward her, surprisingly showing some amount of interest. "An ancient boundary formed by dark magic?" he questioned. "On the other side, an ancient boundary formed by…light magic?"

"So, the desert was some sort of neutral ground?" V-mon wondered.

"Maybe," she answered, then shivered, more because of the darkness than the cold from the snows beyond the ruins.

They continued on in silence for a few moments, every step somehow an effort. A wall of still-connected stones stood before them, slightly taller than the average human, nowhere near as tall as the building had originally begin. Miyako screwed her face into an expression of concentration.

"I wish I remembered more about what this place looked like before it was destroyed," she said, voicing her frustration. "Maybe we should wait for Ken."

He shook his head. "No," he answered. "I know how to find what I'm looking for. You worry about the crystal. Use…magic, or whatever it is you do." He shrugged.

"I'm not wandering around this place alone!" Miyako told him, her voice easily raising an octave or so above its usual range despite her efforts to hide it.

"Am I no one?" Hawkmon questioned dryly.

"No," she answered in a more normal sort of voice. "That's not what I meant…."

Daisuke was already a few steps closer to the wall, Shijo a few steps behind him. Miyako followed, feeling uneasy. "It isn't as though there's anything here," V-mon said, sounding lazy, even sleepy. "Everything left when the place was knocked down."

"That doesn't mean that something might not show up," Miyako returned. "If there _is_ a crystal here, then…."

"Oh, wonderful," Daisuke mumbled sarcastically. "That's what we need, Mummymon attacking." He sighed heavily again and turned to his right, heading along the edge of the wall, running one hand along the stones as he did so. "He'll destroy what's left of the place, and everything within, and then what?"

"And then maybe they'll get the crystal!" Miyako finished, each passing moment making her feel more and more nervous and unglued. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "I'll follow you wherever you're going if you don't abandon me. Please?"

"I don't need you to follow me," Daisuke answered, sounding curiously calmer with every step.

Nonetheless, Miyako followed after him before he disappeared around a corner. "What exactly are you doing?" she wondered, after having watched him move along the wall for some time. "Is there a way to go _through _the wall?"

"Not that I know of," he said, turning and grinning a rather insane-looking grin. "I plan to go under it." He took a step backwards.

Before Miyako could respond to this ludicrous statement, the ground opened up beneath him and he had disappeared. She was left blinking, staring at the space he had once been.

It was Shijo who spoke then. "Wow, a secret tunnel!" he said, his voice a gasp of astonished wonder. "I'm coming, too!" he called, then took a step forward and vanished as well.

"Wonderful," Miyako sighed, attempting to calm herself. For a few moments she debated not going after him, but the feel of the dark magic around her was too strong and she was too fearful. She took a step forward and the ground disappeared beneath her.

* * *

A little bit of action here, building slowly yet steadily toward a big bang, or at least that's the way I've planned it. I'm not sure if it's my own technique or simply the nature of this story, but it seems to be taking forever. Sigh.

Coming soon there'll be a battle and some other stuff. Excitement. Yay.


	9. Heading into Battle

**The Crystal Gate**

**Part Nine: **Heading into Battle

* * *

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:** _Digimon_, all related characters, money, etc, is not mine. Plot is (mostly) mine, although some parts might be borrowed. In short, don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo.

* * *

"Takeru!" Iori was shouting. Already, Pegasmon had de-evolved, and Patamon was falling toward the ground.

Kabuterimon wasted no time with words, simply turned about in mid air and flew, wings buzzing, toward the ground at almost top speed. Koushiro said nothing, his face schooled into an expression of concentrated horror.

They reached Takeru only a short distance above the ground. Iori reached out with both arms and felt something brush past one of his hands. He squeezed his fingers around whatever it was and found that he'd miraculously managed to grab hold of Takeru's shirt.

There was a rush of cold wind nearby as the attacking Airdramon flew past yet again. This time, the rider's weapon crashed soundlessly into Koushiro's hastily raised but secure magical shield, and they could hear a wordless shout of frustration from the human.

"Stay with him," Koushiro advised Iori, who immediately agreed, not being one who enjoyed flying, especially whilst involved in battle. He climbed off Kabuterimon, Armadimon gratefully following, and took Patamon in his arms, the small digimon having safely been lowered to the ground by some magical means. A moment later, Kabuterimon was gone, and even in the dark the bright flashing lights of his electrical attacks were visible.

Takeru was already regaining consciousness, though with a massive headache and some amount of disorientation. He gingerly touched the side of his head where the unknown object had made contact and was relieved to see there was no blood on his hand.

"You all right?" Iori asked, having been rather shaken up by the sight of Takeru falling from such a great height.

"I think so," he answered. "I'm sort of seeing two of everything and my head hurts like…like, a lot, but I suppose I'll survive."

"Maybe you ought to lie down for a while," Armadimon suggested. It was only then that they took in their surroundings.

They had been flying over the valley between the northern mountains that formed the border with the Northern Kingdom and the rolling hills just to the south. At the southern portion of this valley was the village of Hida and the manor they had left. They had flown northward, toward the mountains, and were some distance from the village, about halfway to the formidable peaks ahead.

Although some of the valley was taken up by farms and some by forests, the section that Takeru had fallen into was unplowed, and knee-high grasses surrounded them. There were no trees here, only a seemingly endless field of tall grass stretching in every direction.

Another dark shadow was moving against the dark sky and a cold rush of wind told them that another Airdramon had sped overhead quickly. "I don't think that's going to be possible," Takeru admitted. He thought about running, but the very thought made him feel nauseous, and he sat down in the grass despite everything.

Iori frowned, glancing toward his partner, and even in the dim light Armadimon saw and nodded.

"Armadimon evolve! Ankylomon!"

Immediately, the small armored digimon was replaced by a much larger and more threatening version of himself, surrounded and fortified by heavy, sturdy armor plates and a powerful tail with sharp spikes on it. Iori thought he could see the Airdramon hesitate, for it hovered in midair some distance above before it attacked again.

"Spinning Needle!" called the Airdramon, its voice more like a screech than separated words.

"Get behind me," Ankylomon advised, placing his armored body between Iori, Takeru, and the flying serpent. The attack bounced harmlessly off, causing the Airdramon and its rider to hesitate.

"What do you want?" Iori called into the night sky, doubting that he'd receive an answer. "Who are you?"

"Who are _you_?" the rider returned, his deep voice echoing in the empty field. "Why do you trespass on our territory?"

"_Your_ territory?" he echoed. "Who are you?"

The Airdramon came closer, and in the dim light of the sun, slowly appearing between the mountains and the hills, they could see the body of the rider, dressed in black. In one hand he carried a long pole, undoubtedly similar to the one that had made contact with the back of Takeru's head recently, and Iori thought he could make out the sight of a sword at his waist. Remembering that both he and Takeru were unarmed, he hoped the rider would not attack.

"I am Li Tan, rider and tamer of the Northern Tribe. Who are you?"

"The Northern Tribe?" Takeru echoed, the name obviously having some meaning to him that it did not have for Iori. "I thought...,that is, I was told that the Northern Tribe was all but decimated in the border wars…."

"Hmm," the Airdramon rider answered, nodding. "We were. Some of us have survived, however." He was a tall, thin man, though not without muscles or strength. His skin was a bit darker than most of those who lived in the villages and cities of the Kingdoms his tribe bordered. His hair was shaggy, and the beginnings of a beard had formed on the bottom of his chin.

"Might I ask what caused that explosion?" Patamon questioned from his partner's head.

Here, Li Tan's eyes narrowed, indicating his displeasure. "Tyrannomon. A rival tribe has been attempting, largely without success, to tame them. They believe it will give them an edge in battle, and so were using them to attack us."

"Tame Tyrannomon?" Takeru echoed, eyes widening. "That's quite a task."

"If they succeed, it would mean they were the strongest of the tribes in this area. I would not be surprised if they headed north and attacked the king," Li Tan answered with a sigh. "Their leader, Mai Wu, is an ambitious man. This is not the way of our people. My tribe separated from them for this reason, but it hasn't protected us from the Tyrannomon." He shook his head, frowning severely. "You have the look of those of the South. Who are you?"

Iori stepped forward. Introducing himself, he said, "I believe these Tyrannomon you speak of attacked and almost destroyed the village some time ago."

Again the tamer shook his head. "I am not sure if they attacked on purpose or if the Tyrannomon were out of control. Either way, it is not likely that Mai Wu would cry much over Yagami villages. You have my sympathies."

"Let us help," Ankylomon suggested, his booming, deep voice echoing in the empty valley. Startled, Li Tan glanced upward, never having seen a digimon of that sort before. His dark eyes grew wide, and he nodded, a grin slowly spreading across his face.

* * *

Miyako landed, hard, on a stone floor and sent up a cloud of dust that had her coughing and choking for the next few minutes. When she was able to breathe, she saw that she was in a tiny, dark, underground room. Above, a few pockets of sunlight broke through the cracks in the otherwise undamaged ceiling, but there was little other light. She could see a few objects in front of her, but not with enough clarity to determine what they were. After a moment of hesitation, she conjured a floating flame in her palm and held it out to see by.

The room was much like Koushiro's laboratory that she had left the day before. It was cluttered with boxes of metal things that she could not identify, the walls lined with books and scrolls and beakers of odd liquids, some of which bubbled. There was a strange air to it, and not only because there were no windows and it had undoubtedly been buried under the ground for several months.

"What is this place?" she questioned aloud.

Daisuke was peering intently at one of the overstuffed shelves, squinting at the ancient writing on the spines of the books and trying to make out the old scripts. V-mon was rummaging through a box of odd metal pipes and wires. Shijo, mostly uninterested in books, and his partner Koromon, were examining some of the strange beakers on one of the shelves.

"I thought you were going to look for the crystal," Daisuke said, not looking away from the books. "I don't think it's here."

"I don't know," Miyako defended. "It might be. This is…what is this place?"

"How should I know?" he asked, taking one of the books from the shelf. He opened it, sending up a cloud of heavy dust, and Miyako shivered again, certain that it, too, contained dark magic.

"You've been here before, haven't you?"

"That doesn't mean I know what this is," he returned, and then sighed heavily. "I'm not even sure what I'm supposed to be looking for." He sat down on an empty, overturned crate, and squinted through the dim light at the book.

For a long moment, Miyako didn't say anything. She shut her eyes and felt the magic, ancient, dark magic, ebbing and flowing through the building. Distantly, she could feel the threads of Ken – the old, evil Ken who had once resided here. The magic made her feel cold and sad and tired, but not particularly afraid.

"He didn't build this place, did he?" she said, thinking aloud to herself. The walls around her were obviously quite ancient, she noted, with years upon years of weight and erosion and the elements of the desert (and perhaps the cold wasteland in the opposite direction) having wreaked havoc upon the building. The magic was ancient and complex, certainly not something she believed Ken to have ever been capable of, although she knew little of the complexity or the true nature of his magic.

"No," Daisuke answered unexpectedly, not looking up from the book. "Wormmon said it was here."

Miyako watched him for a moment, only ever having once before seen him in serious studious pursuit. "Well," she said then, breaking the silence. "If we're to find anything, it'd likely be here, and if we're to have any hope of finding it, we'll have to look hard. So, I suppose we'll get to work, then."

"We?" Daisuke echoed, looking up in surprise. The young mage did not seem to have heard him, however, and already she had set her magic to work, removing the books from the shelves. "What are you doing?"

"I can't touch them, if they're at all like the last book," she answered, not opening her eyes. "This is where it came from, isn't it? The magic feels the same. Unfortunately, you're not likely to get very far without my help, so I suppose I'll have to work around that."

"I didn't - ," he began.

"No," Miyako agreed, interrupting him. "No, you didn't ask for my help, and you didn't ask for the boy to follow you. Yet here I am and here he is and here you are and I'm going to help. I don't know if it's going to do any good for me to help, but I'm going to, whether you want me to or not."

He was quiet for a long moment, as though not quite sure what to make of this statement. "I-," he began again, and Miyako opened one eye.

"I'm not doing it for you," she said, watching him out of the corner of said eye. "It's not because I have any sort of interest in helping you. It's because Hikari does, and I happen to be fond of her, and since she is not here to be of assistance, I'll do it. Maybe it's because I'm interested in unraveling a magical puzzle."

"Maybe," he echoed, one eyebrow skeptically raised. "Maybe not."

One of the books hovered in front of her, opened wide. Miyako overturned another empty crate and sat on it, the book lowering to a comfortable reading level. Daisuke watched her for a moment, and she sighed. "Fine," she said, feeling his gaze. "Maybe it's because of something else."

"I don't care why you're doing it," he told her, and looked back toward his book. "Help, don't help. It's not as though something will come of this."

"Don't say that!" she scolded. "Don't talk as though you've already given up!"

Whatever Daisuke might have had to say to this was interrupted by a loud crash at that precise moment. V-mon had been peering over the edge of a particularly tall crate and had lost his balance and fallen in. He panicked momentarily, his small blue feet waving in the air, and then Shijo stepped forward and pulled him out by the ankles. Hawkmon, who had perched on a nearby bookshelf, merely rolled his eyes, but Koromon found the entire thing hilarious, and was giggling almost uncontrollably.

"I'm all right," V-mon assured them all, looking a bit dizzy.

For some time, there was quiet in the underground room, both Daisuke and Miyako busied with their reading. Having grown bored with the crates full of pipes and wires and other strange objects, Shijo, Koromon, and V-mon had fallen asleep in a pile beneath one of the large bookshelves. Hawkmon had proceeded with his usual afternoon nap perched a few shelves up, occasionally opening one eye to see that his partner and all else was the way he had left it a short while ago.

Having rummaged for some time through a heavy volume that was mostly filled with spells the purpose for which made him slightly nauseous, Daisuke finally shut the book and set it down on the ground, feeling more tired from that work than from trekking across the sands to get to the book. He yawned leaned back against the pile of crates behind him, causing a few of the metallic parts within to creak loudly. He stared up at the ceiling until a stray breeze above caused a few granules of sand to fall through the cracks into his eyes, and then he went back to the shelf full of books.

"It's fascinating," Miyako noted, glancing briefly up from the book she'd been perusing. "I'd almost be tempted to try one of these if I wasn't more afraid of them than I'd like to admit. That and I haven't the right sort of magic…."

This statement was so startling that Daisuke turned back toward her with a surprised expression. "You want to _try_ a spell of dark magic?"

"Well…not really…only…almost," she answered sheepishly, turning back toward the book. "It's…hard to explain."

"What sort of spells are you reading, anyway?"

"Ah…um…mostly," she glanced back toward the book. "Well, it's all rather destructive, of course, but think of how amazing it might be to conjure a storm of fire in the midst of a battle…." He stared blankly at her for a moment, and Miyako went on. "This one is for a lightning storm…it would take an amazing amount of magic, of course, but an awesome sight to see. It could be focused intently, too, on one single object…."

"That doesn't sound too dark…."

"Yes, well, those are the nicer ones," Miyako admitted. "There's also a ton of others I'd rather not read about or mention," she paused here and shivered, "thought it's interesting to see _how_ they're done."

"Is it?" he questioned, trying to sound as though this was a causal inquiry. Before he turned back to the bookshelf again, however she saw that strange look in his eyes again.

"It's only to…to try to _understand_ the enemy," she went on, feeling as though somehow she had done or said something rather horrible and wishing to explain herself. "If I understand how that magic works, I can better work against it."

Daisuke said nothing for a long moment, pulling out another book from the shelf. "Do you know how one gets to become a dark mage?" he asked, again with a voice of barely recognizable forced casualness.

Miyako stared at him for a long moment, as though he were unrecognizable. "I…," she began, and then shook her head. "Koushiro once said that magic alone is not dark…it's the person who uses it that makes it dark," she recalled. "Are you saying that if I tried to use one of these…?"

He shrugged, taking his seat again and opening the book in his lap. "I'm no mage," he reminded her. "I don't know much about how magic works."

"You don't have to be a mage to know something about magic," she answered, glancing down at the book in her hands. The words within were scratched out in dark ink, and the lines seemed to have a harshness to them.

Miyako looked down at the spell written on the page before her. It was a spell designed to cause pain, and the person who had transcribed it had described in vivid detail precisely how a person might react to the spell. There was a mathematical formula the sort which would make one's brain hurt which allowed the spell caster to calculate how much magical energy needed to be expended, and how much pain it would be expected to cause in a subject depending upon height and weight and magical ability. Simply looking at the page made her feel a strange sort of cold, and she wondered if Daisuke had once had firsthand experience with this spell in particular.

There was then a loud explosion overhead that jolted the sleeping boy and the digimon in the corner into alertness and sent a shower of dust and sand into the room.

"Yah!" a voice shouted, laughing gleefully, and they could hear a shower of tiny explosions, miniature bombs bouncing off the stone walls of the ruins.

"Mummymon," Daisuke realized, getting to his feet.

"They'll get the crystal," Miyako said, releasing her magical hold on the book she'd been reading. It fell to the ground with a quiet thud. "How do I get out of this place?" she demanded.

"The stairs, if they still exist," he answered, pointing to the far corner of the room. It was, unfortunately, blocked by a pile of fallen stones, as the building above them had caved in onto the steps.

"Doesn't look like they do," V-mon noted, having crossed the room to join his partner. "We could go out the way we came in."

Shijo was looking upward through the chute they'd slid through. The exit was clearly visible, but the tube was made of a polished material and it would be nearly impossible to get a foothold on the smooth surface. "Um, no, I don't think we could," he disagreed.

"Only one option left," Miyako decided. The small granules of sand that had fallen on the floor from between the cracks began to lift themselves into the air and speed about the room. The mage herself had already shut her eyes and an expression of concentration was forming on her face.

"Not in here!" Daisuke shouted over the sound of the wind, which was rapidly increasing in power. "The roof will cave in!"

Miyako didn't seem to have heard him, or if she did, she didn't seem to be heeding his advice. Quickly, he grabbed Shijo by the arm and pulled him into the corner of the room, as far away from the center as possible, and thus out of reach of the tornado of small metallic parts, wires, pipes, and books that were now caught up in the massive cyclone. They took shelter behind one of the empty crates and tried not to let the sand get in their eyes. The tiny metallic parts bombarded the stone ceiling at such a high rate of speed that they were making small but significant dents in the rock and it would not be long before they broke through.

"Wow," Shijo said in amazement. "That's amazing." He'd never before had much of an opportunity to watch a mage at work, and was so eager to watch.

"Stupid," Daisuke muttered. "She's going to exhaust herself, the roof will cave in, and we'll all die, and then Mummymon will be sure to get the crystal." He'd pulled the hood of his cloak over his head in an attempt to shield his eyes from the sand, but it had immediately blown off. He was now holding it on with one hand, holding on to Hawkmon (who'd retreated with the rest of them) with the other.

"I doubt it will be that bad," Hawkmon shouted to him over the noise, but he, too, had a grim expression.

After what seemed like an eternity, the light burst through the ceiling and Miyako ceased the wind. "Hawkmon!" she called in the stunned silence that followed. "Let's go! Digimental up!"

"Hawkmon armor evolve! Hawkmon!" called the bird, leaving Daisuke, Shijo, and their partners behind in the corner.

"That was amazing!" Shijo said again, brushing the sand from his clothes. "Amazing! Wow."

"She'll get herself killed," Daisuke mumbled to himself as he crossed the room and peered up at the bright sunlight that was breaking through the large hole Miyako had departed through. "Killed. And then I'll be killed," he finished, shaking his head.

"You can say that again," said a woman's voice, and the sorceress, a thin woman with silvery hair and a red dress, appeared in basement room. "How nice that you've returned to me. You can give me the crystal now, and we won't have any problems. Once I have it, it'll be so much easier for me to find the one that's here."

"I told you before you can't have it, and I'm not changing my mind," Daisuke answered, already having removed his digivice from his pocket. A high pitched, repetitive noise could be heard over the sounds of Miyako's distant battle.

"V-mon evolve!" shouted the small blue digimon, lunging forward. "XV-mon!"

Shijo gasped out another, "Wow!" from the corner where he'd hidden as he watched the others leave.

* * *

By the time the sun was fully risen and the midmorning sun had shed light on the battle, Takeru was high above the fields yet again, this time hitching a ride on Li Tan's Airdramon. The tamer's partner, a cheerful yet ferocious looking Lopmon, rode upon the head of the Airdramon as a lookout.

Trying to ignore both the pain in his head and his long-standing distrust and fear of Airdramon, Takeru squinted ahead of them. Below, he could see Ankylomon and Iori hurrying toward some far off point on the edge of a lake. Some small bursts of fire could be seen illuminating the shadows of the trees that surrounded the water, and the sounds of Tyrannomon attacks could be heard intermingling with Airdramon attacks.

"Strange," Takeru mumbled, mostly to himself. He'd never thought that he'd be riding on the back of an Airdramon, nor flying to help a tribe of people he'd been told were entirely destroyed in the border wars of more than twenty years earlier.

"Which part?" Li Tan questioned, grinning. "The part about us existing or the part about the Chosen existing, who _I _was told were mere myths."

It was not entirely uncomfortable to ride on the back of a tamed Airdramon. This one in particular sported a saddle-like riding seat, with a special spot in the front for Li Tan's Lopmon partner to keep watch and, Takeru supposed, occasionally add to the attack in mid-air.

As they flew closer to the other members of Li Tan's tribe, he could see that they, too, had saddles fastened to the back of their Airdramon, and helped to control their mounts by way of a complex system of reins. Many of the riders carried long pikes, spears, or poles, with which they attempted to knock their enemies to the ground, as Takeru had discovered the hard way. Others carried maces, axes, or large bows and a full quiver of arrows. At least two or three dozen Airdramon flew in the sky above a group of six Tyrannomon. In the midst of the battle, Takeru caught sight of a large red bug-like digimon, and saw that Koushiro and Kabuterimon had followed their previous adversary into the battle.

The Tyrannomon were largely rider-less, save for one fortunate soul, whose rider was perched atop his head with a long whip, struggling like mad to avoid falling. The others had not been so fortunate, for Takeru could see a number of people on the ground who were injured, tending to the injured, or trying to stay out of the way of the Tyrannomon, who seemed to be throwing flames without caring who they head. Even in the sky, he could hear the clash of swords, and saw that the members of the tribe who were not airborne were battling on the ground below.

Ankylomon had reached the battle scene as well. Iori climbed down from his partner's back and surveyed the battle with a serious frown. After a moment of thought, the large digimon shouted a battle cry and stormed into the fray, swinging his armored tail, leaving Iori on the edge of the battle, where he immediately went to help the wounded.

"Should I let you off here?" Li Tan started to ask, but before Takeru could answer, another Airdramon broke from the skirmish and sped towards them, its rider swinging a long scythe-like weapon. Immediately, Li Tan pulled on the reins with one hand, raising his spear in his other, moving quickly to block the attack.

"Watch for the arrows!" Lopmon warned, and Takeru leaned forward to avoid a speeding missile. He could hear the tear of fabric, and guessed that the arrow had been so close as to rip the sleeve of his shirt.

"Sorry," Li Tan apologized, as his adversary broke away, flying off to come around for another attack. "I didn't mean to get you caught up this way." He pulled on the reins and the Airdramon flew higher, avoiding another few arrows.

"Don't worry about it," Takeru assured him. "Give me something to fight with and I'll help you out."

"Can you shoot?" Lopmon questioned, his own arms being a bit too short to wield a bow and arrow.

"Not so bad as some," he answered. "I can manage."

"Good enough for me," Li Tan answered, and his Lopmon immediately produced the bow in question from a pouch hanging from the saddle. It was longer than what Takeru was used to, and the string was different as well, but otherwise it seemed to be an ordinary bow, and when Lopmon produced a quiver of arrows, he swung it over his shoulder and prepared to fire.

It's not so easy, he soon found, to fire an arrow from the back of an Airdramon as it is to fire one from the ground. Although he knew how to shoot, Takeru had never done so in combat – mostly in competition with his brother, for amusement, safely on the ground – and the jolting movements of the Airdramon didn't make his task easy. Before long, however, he had managed to notch and fire without too much difficulty. Whether or not he hit his intended target was another matter altogether. Behind him, he could hear clanks and grunts as Li Tan's spear clashed again and again with the weapon of his enemy. The scene was so chaotic that Takeru wasn't sure if the rider he was aiming at was his enemy, but he also wasn't sure if he was hitting anything at all. After some time, he decided it would be better to try to stop the Tyrannomon, and so aimed his arrows toward the fire-breathing dinosaurs on the ground.

"Maybe I should help?" Patamon suggested. Being that he could fly, Takeru's partner didn't much have to worry about falling, or staying put aboard the Airdramon, and so hovered near his partner with no more difficulty than he did when he was closer to the ground.

"Maybe," Takeru admitted reluctantly.

* * *

For anyone who's wondering (i'm sure there are millions of you) Li Tan doesn't mean anything, so far as I know. I can only say about two things in Chinese, so while I'm sure it means something, I don't know what. I got the Li from _Card Captor Sakura_ and the Tan comes from Amy Tan, one of my favorite authors. I needed a name and rather than spend three weeks debating or looking things up or leaving the poor guy nameless, I threw them together.

The promised battle will definitely get into full swing in the next chapter. I was going to end this chapter with Daisuke and Miyako heading off to fight, but then I realized that it's been so long since anything really _happened_ and I did _promise _action, that I had to add a _little _something else. Not much, but...

Next chapter, I _swear_, gets exciting, as I've got not one, not two, but technically three battles to write about. Also, unless things change drastically, Ken should reappear, too, and get to take part in some action.

Thanks for reading!


	10. An Incomprehensible Action

**The Crystal Gate**

**Part Ten:** An Incomprehensible Action

* * *

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie: **_Digimon_, all characters and money, are not mine, I'm only borrowing them. I'm not giving them back. The plot is 99.9 percent mine. Don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo.

* * *

Above, the sounds of battle were near, and sand and bricks were falling continuously from the already badly damaged ceiling. Shijo, having stayed behind in the damaged basement, looked up through the hole that Miyako's magic had created, wishing he could be above.

"Yah-ha!" came another shout above, and the sound of a thousand small explosions could be heard connecting with the ancient stone of the ruins. A few more grains of sand fell to the ground, and Shijo wiped the granules from his eyes. A loud thud could be heard, and then a few larger chunks of stone fell to the ground.

"Look out!" he heard Koromon shout in warning from his arms, but Shijo was too busy rubbing the sand from his eyes to clearly see that a large chunk of rock was falling not far from where he stood. He could feel his partner's weight leave his arms, and then he heard another thud above. More rocks began to fall. By the time he'd pulled his hand away from his eyes, he could see nothing but a blurry light. "Koromon evolve!" he heard his partner shout over the sound of the falling rocks. "Agumon! Baby Flame!"

A small, hot burst of flames came from the mouth of the yellow digimon, and a few of the smaller rocks disintegrated in mid-air. Shijo, too stunned to do much of anything, simply watched as his newly-evolved partner swatted the larger rocks away from them both.

"It's not safe here," he said, glancing back toward Shijo. "We should get above before the ceiling collapses."

Another thud and some more sand falling was enough to bring the boy to his senses. Immediately, Shijo nodded. "Right," he agreed. "But, how?"

"Only way out is up," his partner answered, pointing one yellow claw toward the sky. "Can you jump?"

"Not that high!" he answered immediately, looking upward with a frown. "Don't suppose you can, either?"

Agumon shook his head. "No, and if I could I wouldn't leave you down here anyway," he replied. "Maybe there's something we could climb on?"

The room was filled with crates – some full, some empty – and books. Immediately, Shijo began to gather the crates and pile them up, forming a small, wobbly staircase. Soon he had a few steps leading to the ground above. With some difficulty but no great strain he managed to reach the outside.

By now the sun showed that the time was past noon, and the heat was brutal. Shijo was immediately glad that he had his cloak with him, for the sun began to burn his skin almost right way. Thankfully, the battles had moved off some way from where he was. Distantly, the sounds of explosions could be heard, and he wondered if the two Chosen were consciously moving the battle away from him or if it was simply the way things had gone.

"He said get to safety, remember?" Agumon reminded him, noticing that the boy had a bit of a far-off, dreamy gaze as he looked in the direction of the explosions.

"I know, I know," he conceded grumpily. He hadn't been happy about making that promise when he'd made it, but he had made it and so it seemed he'd have to keep it. "That's why we came out of that room before it collapsed on us. Now where?"

Whatever the building had once been it was not now, and there was no roof, no shelter, no small nooks or crannies to hide in, no place offering shade from the intense sun. Around him were mostly-destroyed walls, the tallest one being only a bit taller than himself. Keeping close to the walls, Shijo headed in the direction of the explosions, reasoning to himself that it would be easier to keep clear of the battle if he knew where it was and what was happening. He could tell that his partner wasn't pleased with this reasoning, but Agumon kept his thoughts to himself, at least for the moment.

They moved through a gap in the walls that he guessed had once been a doorway, and then over a small pile of stones that had once been another wall. Keeping hidden behind a barrier of stones that was only half his height, Shijo ducked down so he would not be seen and watched the battle, which was taking place not too far way.

A tall, thin woman with a red dress and a red hat with silvery hair beneath it was standing in the midst of the desert, a triumphant sort of grin on her face. As Shijo watched, she plucked a few silvery strands from her hair and twisted them together in her hand. They slowly grew longer and sharper until she was holding not three strands of twisted-together silver hair, but one long, metallic, sharp spike, easily as long as her arm. She was speaking, but Shijo could not make out the words, and then she pulled back her hand and threw the spike. He watched it sail through the air with some difficulty, as it was fast-moving, and lost sight of it over the sands. A few seconds after, a large cloud of smoke and sand arose from the desert some distance away, and the sound of a loud explosion shook the ground.

From the center of the cloud, a blue streak flew, nearly as fast as the metal spike had been thrown, and XV-mon, whose evolution Shijo had recently witnessed, attacked the woman in the red dress with full force. Immediately, the woman conjured some sort of barrier from thin air, twisting another strand of silvery hair with the other hand. XV-mon pounded on the barrier with his claws for a moment, and then backed up. Hovering in midair a short distance away, he spread his arms wide and shouted.

"X Laser!" he called, loud enough and with enough power that Shijo could hear him across the desert, and then a blast of white light came from the mark on his chest and crashed into the barrier the sorceress had conjured. The light reflected off the barrier and the sand for a moment, causing Shijo to throw up one hand to shield his eyes from the sight of it, and then another cloud of smoke and sand rose from that spot.

"What happened to Daisuke?" Agumon wondered, and Shijo turned his head away from XV-mon for a moment, looking toward the spot where the metallic spike had crashed into the sand.

That cloud of dust and sand was slowly settling, and Shijo thought he could make out a human figure stumbling out of the middle of it. After a moment, it became clear. "There," he said to his partner, pointing. "I hope he's all right."

"He doesn't look quite all right," Agumon said, sounding worried.

"He looks mad," Shijo returned defensively. "I'm sure XV-mon can beat her…whoever she is. She's only a sorceress, right?"

"A really powerful sorceress, though," his partner answered, turning back to the battle. The light from XV-mon's attack did not seem to have been enough to break the barrier the sorceress had conjured, and now she was forming another metallic spike from the strands of her hair again.

"Doesn't matter," Shijo answered simply. "XV-mon can beat her, I'm sure."

* * *

Lopmon seemed to have provided him with a nearly endless supply of arrows and Takeru continued firing, with limited success, at the Tyrannomon below. Two of the large dinosaurs seemed to have no interest in battle, and had wandered off to lay down and rest some distance away. Their would-be tamers, whose desire for battle had _not_ been quenched, were trying to persuade the digimon to return to battle, both with words and whips, but to no avail. Three other Tyrannomon, rider-less, were attacking anything and everything that came within range. Takeru suspected it was because they were fed up with being whipped. Only one was still in its tamer's control, but only barely.

"Kind of reminds you of something, doesn't it?" Patamon mumbled darkly, watching the chaos below. Takeru, with an arrow notched, ready to fire, glanced up at his partner with a questioning expression. He turned back to the battle and sighed.

"Yeah," he agreed. "Sort of reminds me of Chimeramon."

"It's the same thing, isn't it?" Patamon questioned. "Trying to control something beyond your ability?"

He pulled back the string and fired the arrow, then lowered the bow, not bothering to watch to see if it hit anything. "I think so," he agreed, "but how do we stop them? Tyrannomon are at least not _quite_ as destructive as Chimeramon was, but…."

"Still hard enough to stop six of them, right?" his partner agreed. "All the same…."

"All the same, it's got to be done," Takeru finished. "Maybe _this_ is why I came here."

"Maybe," Patamon agreed. "Should we try?"

"It's better than firing arrows at them," Takeru answered, frowning.

"You have a better idea?" Li Tan questioned, breaking for the moment from his own battles. He looked back toward his passenger, who was grinning ear to ear.

"I think I do," he answered. "Suppose you could set me down near Iori?"

"Not going to be easy," the tamer answered, pulling on the reins so that he might avoid another attacking Airdramon. "I'll manage, though."

"Thanks," Takeru told him. "I'm sure you won't regret it." He looked toward his partner. "You ready?"

"I'm always ready," Patamon replied.

"Do it, then."

"Patamon evolve! Angemon!"

* * *

Holsmon, despite his many talents, was obviously no match for Mummymon, despite Miyako's hopes otherwise. She could sense a crystal nearby, though not with enough clarity to determine its exact location. If Mummymon knew, he was trying his damnedest to keep her from it. If he didn't know, then he was making damned sure she didn't find it either.

Whatever it was he was firing from the weapon beneath his arm he seemed to have in endless supply, and the weapon was incapable of jamming or otherwise malfunctioning in any way whatsoever, for he fired an endless stream of small explosions across the desert. Though Holsmon was a fast flier, Mummymon was tireless, and if any of those missiles managed to make contact, there'd be trouble, because she knew from experience she couldn't hold a shield against them for very long.

And so, her battle consisted of simply trying her hardest to stay away from the endless stream of missiles that Mummymon was firing. Holsmon was tiring, that much was certain, and he couldn't keep in the air forever.

"Fly toward the ruins," Miyako instructed, noting a particularly complex section of stones some distance off. "Maybe we can hide."

"Hide?" her partner echoed, his voice astonished. "You want to run away?"

"Yes," she answered simply. "We can't keep fighting against him – we're _not_ fighting. We're running now, and we can't keep that up forever." She sighed heavily. "We should have waited for Ken. Maybe with Paildramon…."

"Assuming Paildramon _could_ appear again," Holsmon pointed out, and Miyako recalled her rather disappointing conversation with Daisuke immediately following the first appearance of Paildramon. He hadn't been optimistic or thrilled about a renewed alliance with Ken, and it seemed less and less likely that their digimon would merge again. Miyako sighed again, mentally cursing both stubbornness and circumstance.

They reached the ruins before long and Holsmon dived down into the center of it. He de-evolved in mid air as Miyako jumped, landing in the soft sand below, and then both quickly hurried through the maze of half-destroyed walls, hurrying to disappear before Mummymon could reappear. Miyako wished in vain that she had taken time to study illusion spells, for if she could have projected an illusion that she was not there, it would have been much easier to hide from Mummymon. Assuming, of course, that he was not the sort of digimon who could easily see through all but the most complex of illusions.

She'd only run about four steps, Hawkmon following behind her, when the young mage felt a strange sort of sensation in her chest and stopped, thinking she was out of breath. She breathed heavily for a moment, and found that this was not the cause of the strange sensation. "No," she said, aloud. "It's the crystal. I can feel it so strongly. Why?"

Hawkmon looked at her with some confusion and concern, for he was obviously of the mind that they ought to keep running and not stop and think about things like crystals and magic but be thinking about things like saving themselves and staying alive. "Miyako….," he said, and then there was a loud, rather large explosion that threw them both forward into the sand.

"Excellent," said a voice that she didn't recognize right away, because he was not laughing, but speaking. Mummymon stood on the top of a half-demolished wall, his weapon at his side, smoke still pouring from the end of it. "Excellent."

Miyako spit sand from her mouth and turned back toward the digimon, ignoring the sand that scratched at her scalp and burned in her eyes. "You can't have it," she told him. "You can't - ."

Whatever else she might have said then was cut off when Mummymon fired a barrage into the sand directly before her, sending more sand flying and causing her to crawl a few steps backward.

"I don't think you're in a position to stop me from doing anything," he answered, a self-satisfied sort of smirk spreading across his face. "Tell me…where it is."

The answer appeared in her mind almost before he'd finished speaking, for she could feel it even closer than before. For a brief moment, she hesitated, and again he fired a bombardment of small missiles into the sand. This time, if she hadn't moved, they would have hit her, and now she found that her back was up against one of those mostly destroyed walls.

Once before, a question had appeared in Miyako's mind – when she had shared a secret that she had realized was very dangerous to keep, and she'd wondered if she, like Daisuke had, could keep that secret no matter what.

Mummymon leaped from the wall with ease, the smirk spreading wider, his eyes narrowed behind the bandages that were wrapped around his face. His long, lanky legs took a few steps forward, quiet, almost soundless in the sand. With one arm he held his weapon, his thin, rotted fingers loosely cradling it. His eyes were hard and cold in his face, his smile light and cheerful. He'd get what he wanted, he was certain of it.

She could raise a shield, she thought. She'd not used too much magic today, and she could raise a shield. It would probably not hold very long against the bombardment of missiles, though, and then what? Was this crystal worth…worth dying over? The thought of death appeared in her mind for a brief moment, to be replaced by the thought of her _own_ death, which was incomprehensible.

"I won't ask again," Mummymon said, taking another step forward. The smirk disappeared – now his mouth was as hard-set as his eyes. He raised his weapon so that it was less than an arm's length from her eyes. She could see the smoke rising from the end of the barrel, could see his fingers tightening, no doubt about to fire.

"No," she answered, surprised to find that her voice was hoarse and the word came out as barely a whisper.

The word surprised the digimon so much that he lowered his weapon and stared blankly at her. "What?" he asked after a moment of endless silence. "What!" he repeated, louder.

Miyako cleared her throat and swallowed. "No," she said. "I said no. You can't have it."

"Then you'll die!" he shouted, almost screaming. "Are you crazy? Do you want to die over some stupid crystal?"

"No," she said honestly, her voice much calmer than she felt. "But I don't want you to have it, either."

"Bloody hell," he said, loudly, and swung up the arm that held his weapon. "Die over it, then."

* * *

As Takeru expected, his partner's evolution halted the battle momentarily, for none of the warring tribes' fighters had ever seen such a thing. Li Tan's Airdramon hesitated in midair, then recovered a split second before any of the others had pulled their eyes away from the bright light, and began to speed toward the ground.

"Amazing," Li Tan was saying in a low voice. "You're real then?"

"Of course I'm real," Takeru answered simply. "Did you think you were imagining me?"

"No, no," the tamer answered. "I knew _you_ were real…I meant the Chosen. Real?" He shook his head, grinning.

"Yeah," his passenger agreed. "Amazing, isn't it?"

A short while later, they were near enough to the ground that Takeru felt safe enough to dismount, taking with him the bow he'd been carrying, the quiver of arrows still strapped to his back. He landed in the grass a short distance from Iori, who had been helping to tend to the wounded while his partner battled the Tyrannomon.

Angemon had quickly entered the battle, fists flying as he attacked the fiery dinosaurs with both his hands and his staff. He was causing quite a bit of damage, weakening one of the Tyrannomon, but the humans who were attempting to control it were not so easy to relinquish control. Ankylomon had been battling for some time, his heavy tail continuously hammering into the legs of his enemies. The would-be tamers, however, were attempting to confuse the situation by firing arrows toward Ankylomon. Even though some of them made contact, they were of course doing no damage against his heavy armor, but were managing to be a bit of a nuisance. It was with some difficulty that he restrained himself from swinging his tail through the lot of them and dispensing with the arrows. Kabuterimon, too, had suffered from the arrows.

Iori looked up from his task when Takeru approached. He had been watching the battle with one eye while he tended to the wounded, and was finishing tying a bandage on a fighter whose arm had been damaged by his opponent's spears. He had a severe frown on his face, a dark look in his eyes, and Takeru wondered if he, too, had been thinking about Chimeramon.

"They're idiots if they think they can tame Tyrannomon," Iori said, his voice low but not without emotion. "Idiots."

Takeru nodded. "Doesn't seem as though they've been doing too well. They'll be lucky if they don't all get killed. Maybe roasted," he added, for one of the dinosaurs had chosen that moment to unleash his fiery breath, warming the air on the plains a few degrees.

"Idiots," Iori muttered again, shaking his head. "They're in way over their heads."

"That's what Li Tan says," Takeru informed him, glancing upwards. Distantly he caught sight of the tamer heading into battle again, swinging his spear with ease. "Most of the tamers know that Tyrannomon are too unpredictable, too strong, but this other tribe wants them to give the edge in battle."

"I know almost nothing about taming and I know it's foolish," Iori answered. "Airdramon are hard enough, but at least they don't breathe fire." He sighed. "If they're the cause of that attack on the village…." He shook his head again, eyes narrowing.

Takeru said nothing, reflecting to himself that he'd never before seen Iori quite so angry. He couldn't blame him; having seen how badly Hida had been damaged and having recently defended Takaishi from invaders as well. For a long moment, he was quiet, watching the Airdramon and their riders battle in the sky and watching Kabuterimon, Ankylomon, and Angemon battle the Tyrannomon. He wondered which way this battle would go, and what it would take to stop the rival tribe.

* * *

Despite his previous confidence, even Shijo had to admit that the battle was not going well. XV-mon didn't seem able to break through the shields the woman in red had formed, and she didn't seem to be tiring. Indeed, she was continuing to form metal spikes from her hair and send them exploding into the sand.

"This isn't good," Agumon muttered, shaking his head.

Shijo let out a moan of frustration. "I wish there was something we could do…," he grumbled, half getting to his feet.

"Don't!" his partner said, reaching out to grab the back of his shirt before he could rise. "He said to stay out of danger, remember?"

"Yeah, but…," Shijo protested, looking back toward the battle. Quite a few clouds of smoke were now rising across the desert floor, making it almost impossible to see anything. He couldn't tell where Daisuke was, and he could only see a few dark shadows amidst the smoke that he guessed to be the XV-mon and his opponent.

"What do you think you or I could do that XV-mon can't?" Agumon questioned, and this, at least, was enough to cause the boy to abandon his desire to run into the midst of the battle.

After a few moments, the smoke cleared, and he saw that the woman was gone, XV-mon had de-evolved, and Daisuke was looking around him with a rather confused expression.

* * *

A loud shout, made of anger and rage, reached Miyako's ears a split second before she saw it, a streak of green that touched on the edge of her vision before it slammed into Mummymon, taking the digimon by surprise. He fell backwards some distance, loosing his grip on his weapon, which fell to the ground, clattering against the stones. The green blur paused long enough to regroup, and she could see now that it was Stingmon.

"Bloody hell," Mummymon said again, getting to his feet. "Snake Bandage!"

Long strips of bandages burst from his arms, wrapping around his opponent, who struggled for a few moments, long enough for the mummy to dart across the space and grab his weapon again.

"Break free of it!" Miyako heard a voice yell from behind her, and she turned to see Ken standing on the edge of a nearby wall, one fist clenched at his side, eyes focused on the battle. A moment later, Stingmon did exactly that, the white bandages scattering to the ground uselessly.

"Yah-ha!" Mummymon laughed triumphantly, firing his weapon, but Stingmon appeared to be either impervious to the missiles or didn't much care, for a moment later he was speeding head on toward the mummy once again.

"Miyako," Hawkmon said, and she pulled herself to her feet, not taking her eyes from the battle. Her legs felt weak, her knees shaking beneath her. She held onto the wall beside her, not daring to turn her head again and look toward Ken.

"The crystal," she recalled, and then turned away. "I've got to get to it."

"Are you sure you shouldn't rest for a bit?" her partner questioned, noting, no doubt, that she was rather unsteady on her feet.

"Maybe," she said, climbing over the low wall she had previously been leaning against, "but I've got to get it, and I don't want to waste time."

* * *

Finally, some action, and, as promised, Ken's return. Yay. We'll spend a little more time with these battles – I plan not more than another chapter – and then we'll be moving on, finally. I'm sure everyone's wondering what the others have been up to. There are others? Oh, yeah.

I'm having fun writing this, so I hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading.


	11. Harmony Pursued

**The Crystal Gate**

**Part Eleven: **Harmony Pursued

* * *

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:** _Digimon_ is not mine, which includes characters, monsters, money, etc. Plot is mine. Don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo.

* * *

"Are you all right?" Shijo ventured to ask, noticing that XV-mon was now V-mon and Daisuke was looking a bit tired. He had a strange look in his eyes, sort of angry, and the boy hoped this was not directed towards him.

Daisuke paid little attention to the question, though he was holding his right arm with his left hand. "She left too quickly," he said, wiping the sweat and sand that had combined to form a thick paste on his forehead. "She must have gone to help Mummymon."

"Probably," V-mon mumbled, obviously in bad spirits. "She's too strong for me to take by myself, you know."

"Yeah," he muttered, and sighed. "Let's go."

"Go where?" Shijo wondered. Daisuke was already a few steps away, heading slightly north. A cool breeze came from the snow-covered area, offering welcome relief from the heat, but it was only temporary.

Before anything else could be said, they heard the sound of a loud crash not too far away in that direction, and the sound of a stone wall collapsing.

"I'd guess that way," Agumon noted, but Daisuke had already taken off at a run.

* * *

The battle between the two tribes had waged on for what felt like hours, so that before long Takeru was aware of the sun high in the sky and recalled that when he'd awakened, it was still night.

Some progress had been made. Two of the Tyrannomon had abandoned interest in the battle almost the moment it had begun, and their tamers had been unable to rouse them to fight once more. Another had sank down in the grass and refused to get up, for it was either too tired or had no further desire to fight. None of the Tyrannomon were under anything resembling human control, and most of the rival tribe had abandoned the battle, recognizing that it was futile. A few tamers had remained, however, some of them (either stupidly or bravely, depending on the point of view) continuing to attempt control, whipping the dinosaur digimon violently. The Tyrannomon, obviously enraged, were attempting to step on the humans of both tribes, and trying to roast the Airdramon that flew past them regardless of who was riding on the back of the flying serpents.

Iori and Takeru had tended to the wounded with the others, occasionally glancing up to watch the battle and see that their partners were all right. Iori still had a dark look of suppressed anger in his eyes that Takeru had never before seen with such intensity in his usually calm face. After some time, however, the younger Chosen abandoned his attempts at nursing and got to his feet.

"Someone's got to talk sense into them," he said, beginning to walk into the midst of battle. Takeru finished tying the bandage he'd been wrapping around a young woman's wrist.

"Do you suppose they'll listen to you?" he questioned, stepping away from his completed task. "We're outsiders here, Iori. It's not likely they'll pay any attention."

"Then they're idiots," Iori answered sharply, and then shook his head, taking a deep breath. "You're right...," he conceded, and turned his head to face the battle.

Ankylomon swung his heavy tail into the legs of a Tyrannomon, who roared out his rage and breathed fire. It didn't do much damage to the armored digimon, but it did cause a few humans on the ground to go quickly running for cover. Even distantly, across the battlefield, they could hear the shouts of those who had been badly burned, and a few Airdramon flyers abandoned their fighting to help the wounded retreat.

Meanwhile, from the air, Angemon was fighting the same Tyrannomon face to face, repeatedly whacking its nose with a long pole or firing blasts of powerful light that momentarily blinded the dinosaur. The attacks served only to enrage the digimon rather than tire him, and the ferocity of his attacks had not lessened in the slightest. A few of those in the air were not so lucky as to be spared from the fiery breath of the Tyrannomon's attack, and a few of the tribesmen fell to the ground from a rather great height.

Takeru expected to hear the commander of the opposing tribe call out a retreat, but instead he could hear a voice shout out a completely opposite order. With a rather crazy sounding laugh, he heard one of the Airdramon's riders shout, "We've almost got them beat! Don't give in now! Attack!"

"Idiots," Iori muttered, his frown growing deeper. "Don't they understand they've taken as much damage as they've given? The Tyrannomon don't care who they hurt."

Takeru shook his head, once more thinking of Chimeramon and the Kaiser as he watched the commander battle with a long, heavy spear. "Even Ken realized eventually that Chimeramon couldn't be controlled," he remembered, watching as the two flying fighters parted, then came around for another attack. The commander's opponent pulled a sword from his belt and released his reins to attack with both hands, his spear in one and his sword in the other.

Iori turned toward him, considering. "Even then, it was only when he himself was nearly destroyed, when his castle fell down around him," he reminded Takeru. "Perhaps when every one of them is dead?"

"When every one of them is dead, it may be that the Tyrannomon will give up," Takeru replied. He shook his head, not taking his eyes away from the battle above. "They should try to drive the Tyrannomon away…."

"They can't, not with only Airdramon," Iori reminded him. "Not with the Tamers in the way." One of the Tyrannomon fired a blast of hot breath into the sky, and it missed the battling commander and his opponent by a very short distance.

One of the Tyrannomon roared loudly and belched out a great flame, nearly destroying all those who were on the ground beside it, sending the would-be tamers running quickly. It took a few steps away from the others and roared once more. When the tamers tried again to whip it into submission, it breathed fire on them, badly wounding some of them and sending the rest scattering again. It took a few more steps, further injuring a few of those already on the ground.

"Takeru," Iori said suddenly, touching his arm, for the older Chosen was still watching the battles in the sky. Reluctantly, he turned his eyes away and looked in the direction Iori was indicating. The Tyrannomon had managed to break free of anyone trying to stop it and was heading directly toward where they were standing, the wounded behind them.

Takeru turned immediately to the wounded behind him, planning to shout out advice that all get away as soon as possible, but such words would have been unnecessary. Those who could walk were hurrying away, helping those who could not walk quite as well, but at such a slow speed it was not likely that they'd be able to escape the dinosaur if it chose to chase after them.

"We have to do something," he said, and almost at the same time he thought he heard Iori mutter the same words.

* * *

The crystal that Miyako had felt with such certainty was but a short distance from where she was. Trying to ignore the unsteady dizziness she felt (the result of having been very near death only a few short moments before), she climbed over a few low, half-demolished walls, gripping the stone longer than usual to aid in balance. Behind her, she could hear Mummymon shouting in anger, but Stingmon and Ken were keeping him busy enough that he wasn't coming after her. She didn't dare look back, but kept on steadily.

At one end of the now destroyed fortress had been a tall tower, now only a circle of burned bricks. Only a few steps beyond was snow, and indeed when she approached it Miyako thought that the temperature had dropped a bit. She paused briefly to catch her breath and steady her nerves for a moment, and recalled that the last time she'd seen this tower, it had been on the verge of collapse, and she and Holsmon had flown by at precisely the right moment to catch Daisuke as he leapt from the crumbling steps. At the time, the sound of Chimeramon and Magnamon fighting behind her had been in loud in her ears.

She shook her head; it was no time to be reminiscing; and began to walk on. Her head felt a bit clearer, and her feet a bit more steady. Again she could feel a pressure in her chest – the feel of the crystal – and she wondered why it was so strong here as it had not been in Motomiya.

Without difficulty Miyako climbed over the low outer wall of the tower and saw that within the collapsed walls was a pile of bricks and wood and dried plaster, the ruins of the tall building. She knew with certainty that the crystal was within the pile, and she immediately began to search for it, getting down on her knees and rummaging with both hands amongst the stones.

"Has to be here someplace," she mumbled absently, and Hawkmon also began searching amidst the bricks. They had not searched for very long, however, before a series of explosions sounded around the outer shell of the tower, sending bricks and plaster and wood into a whirlwind.

Instantly, Miyako threw up a protective shield – surprising herself with how easy these things were becoming nowadays – and turned to see what had caused the explosions. She was expecting to see Mummymon, but the explosions had been too large, and there was no triumphant, mad laughter in the midst of it. Instead, the sorceress – Arachnemon, Ken had called her – was standing on a low wall, idly twisting a few strands of silvery hair in her fingers.

As innocuous as this action seemed to be, Miyako was not fooled, for she could sense a great amount of magic building around her opponent and was certain that it would not be long before she launched another attack. She took a few steps back, lowering her shield but preparing to raise it again at a moment's notice, conserving her magical energy.

"You've done the work for me, I see," Arachnemon said, her voice sweet and syrupy. Had Miyako not possessed magical senses, had she not seen her previously, had she not awareness of her true nature, the voice might have been enough to put her at ease, for it was calm and non-threatening. The half-digimon sorceress peered over her dark-tinted spectacles and smiled with bland eyes. "You would have been far more useful on our side."

Miyako took another few steps back, frowning, gathering her magic around her as she walked, not daring to waste her energy by speaking. She didn't take her eyes from the sorceress.

"You've a far greater practical magical power than any of the others," the sorceress continued, stepping down from the wall. "I daresay you haven't been able to delve into the true depths of the power you hold. Would you not like to learn more, to use more?" She twisted the hair between her fingers and waved one arm behind her.

She could feel the disruption before she saw it, a shimmer in the air as she had felt before when the sorceress called one of what seemed to be an infinite supply of digimon from nowhere to do her bidding. Three tall Mammothmon appeared behind her now, massive beasts that astonished Miyako with their size.

Arachnemon took another step forward away from the wall, twisting another few strands of hair between her fingers, gathering more magic. "You could learn so much, do so much more than you have been allowed to do. I know you are curious. It's why you came here – seeking knowledge. I could teach you. You'd be a valuable help – far more so than Mummymon." Her smile was mocking now, indicating that she obviously thought the other half-digimon was far less powerful than she was. Miyako took this in the subtext of this statement – if she had barely managed to escape Mummymon, she'd certainly not outsmart Arachnemon.

"I don't - ," Miyako said, because it seemed the sorceress was waiting for her answer.

"Don't you?" she asked, raising one eyebrow. She shifted her weight so that she was standing on her right leg, her free hand on her hip. As the fabric of her dress shifted, a bit of skin became visible above her ankle. It looked like human skin. She looked like a human woman, and yet….

"No," Miyako answered, taking another step back. "I'm not interested in learning your sort of magic. I'm not interested in working with you if you're willing to destroy an entire village for one crystal."

"Think of your potential," the sorceress said, her voice taking on only the barest hint of sternness, of anger, of something other than the bland sweetness she'd previously been using. "Think of your magic, of the power you could have. Think…of your life."

For a long moment, Miyako stared at her, thinking, despite her attempts not to, of precisely those things. "I have," she answered finally, taking a step forward. "I'd rather not."

There was a long moment of silence. Miyako watched as Arachnemon plucked the strands from her hair and waved her free hand. The Mammothmon trumpeted their anger and their intent, stomping their powerful feet and shaking the ground with their power. With the other hand she twisted the hairs into silvery spikes and hurled them into the center of the now-demolished tower.

Having been prepared, Miyako raised a shield, taking Hawkmon in her arms to protect him, but even so, the resulting explosions were powerful enough so that she felt the blasts through the magical walls. The Mammothmon she had summoned trumpeted their triumphant calls and in the midst of the flying dust, Arachnemon crossed the crowded space.

Miyako looked up, having ducked her head instinctively in the midst of the explosions, in time to see the sorceress hold out one hand, palm up, as though expecting someone to place an offering within it. Her long, slender fingers were clad in smooth red gloves. With the other hand, she was twisting a strand of hair, and her lips were moving, silently forming magical words. Despite her shield, Miyako could feel the power, could feel cold air coming from her. The pressure in her chest grew suddenly stronger, and there was a heat, like a burning.

"No," she muttered, lowering the shield and stepping forward. Instantly, Arachnemon took her hand from the strands of hair and pointed it toward Miyako.

The ground seemed to disappear beneath her, the air to rush past her at an unequaled speed. It was not the air that was moving, however, but she herself, and when she stopped, it was only because she had slammed into something solid. Her back crashed into it first, cushioning the blow, and then her head jolted back suddenly, colliding with the low stone wall that had stopped her short flight and causing her to see stars for a moment. At the same time, the pain in her chest had progressed to a painful burning, and she wondered again why the crystal was calling out to her so strongly and what would happen if Arachnemon took it – would the pain be unbearable? Would it cease? Would she die?

Her vision was blurry, but she could see some sort of white light rising from the ruins of the tower and she could hear Arachnemon laughing – shortly after joined by the maniacal giggles of Mummymon. She could hear the trumpeting of the Mammothmon and felt the ground shaking around her. The wall behind her was dangerously unstable. Miyako thought dimly that it might be best to move, but her body disagreed with her. Her head was throbbing, her chest was burning, and the rest of her felt as heavy and aching as though she were buried with bricks and stones. She watched as Arachnemon and Mummymon disappeared into nothingness, leaving behind the Mammothmon, who were slowly making their way towards her.

"Damn," she heard a voice say that might have been nearby or might have been three days' journey away. She squinted and saw a blurry face, but couldn't see beyond that and it only made her head hurt more so she shut her eyes. "I'll have to…," the same voice said, but the end of the sentence was muddled by the sound of falling rocks and trumpeting Mammothmon.

"Do it," said a different voice, with some urgency. "Get her as far from here as you can. I'll…."

* * *

Again, the battle paused and the Airdramon halted in midair. For a moment, even the Tyrannomon paused in their mad rampages as a bright white light filled the sky. Over the sound of a continuous high-pitched noise, two voices could be heard shouting.

"Angemon evolve!"

The crowd of wounded behind the two Chosen was slowly making its way to safety and did not pause, knowing that they'd have little time to escape if the Tyrannomon heading their way was not stopped.

"Ankylomon evolve!"

Li Tan was holding the reins of his Airdramon in his left hand and his spear in his right. When the light glowed and the high-pitched noise hit his ears, he thought immediately of when Patamon had become Angemon a short while before. He was interested, but would not have halted had his mount not chosen to do so. Never before had his Airdramon disobeyed his wishes without good reason, and so he turned in the direction of the light to watch. Somewhere in the midst of the light, he thought he could see a large creature taking shape.

"Shakkoumon!"

The new digimon was a strange sight, unlike anything that any of those present had ever seen before. It seemed to be made almost entirely of a strong metal, a sturdy armor that clanked when it moved, a shiny white color that glinted in the sunlight even when the light had faded. Two solid white wings jutted out from his back (obviously not for flying, but decoration. A few jewels decorated his body, most notably the front of his chest and the op of his shoulders, and the white armor was highlighted with gold accents, including one sun-shaped decoration on the front. The hands were not hands by human definition but strange mechanical mechanisms that spun in sockets.

Immediately, Shakkoumon stepped forward and raised both arms. The nearest Tyrannomon, not one to back down from a fight, stepped forward, roaring his anger, and breathed a storm of fire. The flames surrounded Shakkoumon with such a intense heat and power that all those nearby had to shield their faces for fear of being burned.

When the fire had dissipated, however, Shakkoumon was undamaged, his armor untarnished in the least. With a soft squeak of metal joints, it stepped forward quickly, waving one arm that connected solidly with the chin of the fire-breathing dinosaur digimon. It fell backward, roaring in pain and anger, and then breathed fire again. Once more, Shakkoumon was unaffected, and he swung the other arm, this time landing a punch on the right side of the dinosaur's head. Half-screaming in pain, the Tyrannomon was completely unprepared for a second smack on the other side of its head. It backed off, heading for the forest on the edge of the plains, recognizing its defeat.

A second Tyrannomon, eager to face a new and challenging opponent, rushed forward at full speed, planning to butt the new digimon with its head. Shakkoumon swung his arms forward and caught the dinosaur before it could dent its head on his sturdy body. The Tyrannomon roared in anger, not as willing as its predecessor to give in to defeat. Breaking free of Shakkoumon, it swung its powerful front claws. They clanked loudly against the armored chest of Shakkoumon but made no damage. Again, the Tyrannomon roared in anger, breathing fire, but the armor was again undamaged. The dinosaur then opened its mouth, revealing powerful sharp teeth, which it used to try to snap at its opponent's arms.

As he had with the last opponent, Shakkoumon swung first one arm, then another, connecting punches solidly with the Tyrannomon. The dinosaur backed off but did not retreat as the other had. Instead it roared again in anger and swung out with his sharp claws. This time, a small scratch appeared in the armor of its opponent.

Whilst the battle was going on, two of the Tyrannomon had been sitting on the sidelines, uninterested in fighting. One of them had fallen to sleep and not awakened despite the noise and commotion around it. The other, however, was watching the battle with some interest, as though waiting for an opportune time to enter. Several of the would-be tamers had tried to urge both dinosaurs into battle, but their whips did not seem to affect the sleeper. The other had swung its tormentors off with a few swipes of its claws, tails, and the occasional belch of fire. Upon the appearance of Shakkoumon, however, it got to its feet and, after the first Tyrannomon had retreated, it plunged into battle.

Now, it attacked Shakkoumon from behind, leaping with powerful legs to land on the back of the new digimon. Shakkoumon stumbled forward under the weight of the Tyrannomon, which was holding on to its back with both its front claws. It opened its mouth and let loose a roar of triumph, and then a blast of fire, which was as ineffective as the previous attempts.

The other Tyrannomon continued its assault from the front, taking advantage of its opponent's preoccupation. Shakkoumon straightened up despite the Tyrannomon on his back. His mechanical hands spun in circles and began to glow with a pale white light, unnoticed by either of the dinosaurs.

"Harmonious Spirit," Shakkoumon said, his voice seeming to be a blend of two, a certainty of power and justice. The light burst forth from his mechanical hands and connected solidly with the Tyrannomon in front of him. The dinosaur roared in pain for a moment and then deleted in burst of energy that faded to the winds.

Apparently alarmed by its ally's defeat, the second Tyrannomon paused in its attacks to stare blankly at the space where the first had previously stood. Its hesitation cost it. Shakkoumon spun the top half of his body around at such a speed that the dinosaur was thrown off. It landed with a crash on the ground a short distance away and roared in pain. For a moment, it seemed as though it was about to attack yet again. It stared at Shakkoumon, trying to decided, and then roared once more and hurried off towards the woods the same way as the first dinosaur had done.

Shakkoumon turned to face the final Tyrannomon, which was curled in a ball some distance away. It opened one eye and peered at the new digimon, then yawned widely, showing all its teeth, and fell back to sleep.

The tamers had stopped their fighting on the ground. Those who had been attempting to control the Tyrannomon were only staring, paralyzed with fear. None of them bothered to try to goad the other into attacking, for they were still stunned by the deletion.

In the sky above, Li Tan flew above the battle and raised his arm, signaling to his comrades that they should cease fighting. "You've been defeated, Mai Wu," he said, addressing the leader of the opposing tribe. "You cannot control Tyrannomon, and we will not allow you to harm any more people trying to do so. Accept your defeat and offer surrender!"

"Never!" came the commander's response. He, too, was mounted on an Airdramon. He flew up above the battle and waved his arms. "All those who will come, join me. We do not admit defeat, and we will come back stronger and more powerful. Tell your tribe to fear us, Li Tan!"

With that, Mai Wu turned his Airdramon around and flew away. Li Tan sighed, but did not order any of his fighters to follow, nor did he himself go after the retreating tribe. They had suffered enough casualties for one day.

Shakkoumon was glowing as he had not done before, and after a moment he had disappeared. In the space where he had been reappeared two tiny digimon – Upamon and Tokomon.

* * *

I'd like to apologize to anyone who's overly fond of Miyako. I seriously beat her up the last two chapters. It doesn't mean I don't like her.

I couldn't remember what Shakkoumon's attacks _look_ like, so I took a few artistic liberties. It's been far too long since I watched that section of the series, and I have to admit I probably didn't pay close attention to him at all. I know I totally altered Arachnemon's abilities (as well as the spelling of her name, but that's translation and all), but I call that artistic license, so…. :shrug: I'm very pleased with myself that he (and Iori and Takeru) got this much face time.

Next chapter, we'll get back to the rest of the Chosen and hopefully move the plot forward. Hopefully.

Thanks for reading.


	12. The Peaceful Evening

**The Crystal Gate**

**Part Twelve**: The Peaceful Evening

* * *

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie: **_Digimon _is not mine, the plot is. Don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo.

* * *

It had taken Hikari longer than she had expected to leave Takaishi, for, despite her best efforts, Takeru's grandmother was incredibly confused about where he had gone and why. Since most of her questions were unanswerable, it was understandable that it took some time for Hikari to persuade her not to send out a party to search for her grandson. Then, it was not so easy to leave at all, for Lady Takaishi wanted her to stay a few days more. Hikari demurred, and eventually the old woman agreed, though she did insist on sending along a half-dozen servants (two of which were really armed guards) as an escort. Though not eager for traveling companions, Hikari could think of no reason nor means of refusing the offer. It certainly was not wise to travel alone, and she hated to think of what might happen if Mummymon were to attack while she was alone – not that any of her companions were likely to be of any help.

By the time she had returned to the palace, Takeru had been quite some time in Hida, and had sent word of his location back to the palace. Daisuke had disappeared, taking Shijo with him, and Miyako had gone after them a few days later. Taichi had suffered frostbite of all things, and Jyou had been nearly ready to tear his hair from his skull at the thought of another such patient. Whilst she had traveled, however, both had mostly recovered, and things were now at a relative calm.

"Which is not to say that it won't be complete chaos tomorrow," Mimi concluded with a sigh, having greeted Hikari upon her return. "For now, all is quiet. Your brother still argues with the northern Lords, but I daresay he's nearly got them convinced, or at least managed to silence them enough."

"I don't see what they should argue with him for," Hikari confessed, shaking her head with a similar sigh. "None of them much want Hida for themselves, or they would have taken it twenty years ago. They should let it be given away and that's that."

They were walking down the corridors, Hikari heading for her room where she hoped to take a bath and rest for a bit. Something in the back of her mind was bothering her, but she pushed it away, not wishing to wrestle with it at the moment.

"That's precisely my opinion as well," Mimi agreed, nodding. "I think a few of them were hoping it might be given to one of their second sons, thereby increasing their power and wealth though not their responsibility. Still, Taichi is right not to give it to someone who won't care about it."

"Hmm," Hikari answered absently. They turned a corner and passed through a corridor lined with tall, bright windows. Warm sunlight flooded the hall, and outside, the gardens were visible. "I'm glad to hear of where Takeru has gone," she said, glancing out toward the garden.

A few women were tending the flowers, which were blooming with full splendor now. It would soon be summer, with long, warm days. Distantly, Hikari could see a man pushing a mower over the grass, trimming the green blades. A few ladies walked between the flowers, admiring the blossoms on the trees or the blooms of the flowers.

"I'm happy for him," Mimi said, "but it will be strange not to have Iori here." She, too, glanced out the window, and both of them paused to take in the pleasant scenery for a few moments.

Beyond the nearby garden the land rose gently, and they could see a solitary female figure slowly ascending the slope. From such a distance, it was hard to make out precisely who it was, but both Hikari and Mimi focused on her, thinking that they might know the person. Tailmon, whose eyes were sharp, said, "Is that Sora?"

"Might be," Hikari answered, squinting in the sunlight. "I wonder what she's doing out there."

* * *

When Miyako had forced her eyes open once more, it was late in the day, the sun sinking low in the west and the temperature slowly dropping, even in the desert. She became aware of the crackling of a fire not far away, and turned her eyes to see that a few small pieces of meat were cooking over the flames. Shijo was watching the meat with a focused attention, as though he was determined not to allow it to overcook for by even a second. A few steps away from him, his recently-evolved partner Agumon dozed in the sand.

The world was no longer spinning or blurry, but there was still a dull ache in the front of her head, right above her eyes, and another in the back of her head where it had collided with the stone wall. The pain in her chest had evaporated, but the rest of her body ached with an unspecified exhaustion, and she didn't feel like mustering the energy to sit up.

Shijo noticed she was awake though, and left his cooking, crossing the space between them. "Do you want some water?" he asked. "The meat isn't finished cooking yet, but there's still some fruit…."

"Water," she echoed, and yawned, still feeling tired. She willed herself to sit up, but her body took a bit more effort to persuade. "Water sounds good."

Immediately, he went about finding one of the canteens still half filled with water and twisted the cap off before handing it over. Having finally forced herself into a sitting position, Miyako gratefully drank a few gulps of the mostly warm water.

The evening was quiet, with not even the sounds of battle in the distance.

"Shouldn't be too much longer, I think," Shijo said, having gone back to watching the meat. He turned the stick and examined the side more closely. "I'm not used to cooking this sort of fish – I've never seen one like it before – so I'm not sure about the timing. It smells good already, though."

"Hmm," Miyako agreed, for the aroma of the roasting fish was filling the air and it was an enticing smell. Her eyes fell on the sleeping Agumon nearby. "Koromon evolved?"

His delight at this rite of passage was evident, for a wide grin spread briefly across the boy's face before he stifled it, likely to try to appear more grown-up. "Yes," he said, nodding. "He lit the fire."

"My brother wanted an Agumon," she recalled, thinking of her older sibling. "He fancied he'd be able to set my sisters' dresses on fire if they dared torment him."

His eyes grew wide; he had not considered this possibility. "I suppose no one would bother a fire-breathing digimon."

"No, unless they had firepower themselves."

The sound of footsteps shuffling through the sand interrupted whatever else might have been said then, and Miyako turned to see Daisuke approaching from the north, carrying four canteens over one shoulder, obviously heavy with water. He set them down in the sand with a clank and then sat down heavily beside them, opened the nearest one, and drank a long gulp from it. V-mon, who had followed him, fell into the sand on his back, obviously wanting a nap.

"Is there water near here?" Miyako questioned. "A stream or a lake?"

He shook his head and pointed the direction he'd come. "Snow," he said when he'd paused for breath. "Melts fast in the desert. Want some?"

Though she'd already had a gulp of water, Miyako took one of the canteens from him and drank a few more swallows. The water was still ice-cold despite the warmth of the air, and it tasted fresh and delicious like water usually did not.

Daisuke was watching her out of the corner of one eye, pretending not to be. "You all right?" he asked, casually, as though he didn't much care one way or the other if she was or not.

"Tired," she answered, frowning as his question quickly brought back unpleasant memories of flying through the air and how close she had come that day to death. "A bit sore." She reached up and gently touched the back of her head. There was no blood, but it was still a bit tender.

"Hmm," he said, laying back in the sand. Overhead, stars were beginning to appear in the darkening sky as dusk approached.

"They – she got the crystal, didn't she?" Miyako said after a moment, studying a few of the tiny crystals of sand beneath her. "I wasn't strong enough to stop her…."

"None of us are," a voice interrupted from behind her, and she turned to see another person approaching. Beyond the circle of fire, it was difficult to make out who it was, but she recognized his voice, and her guess was confirmed a moment later when a small green caterpillar digimon came into the firelight. "Don't blame yourself for it."

For a long moment, she couldn't move, couldn't speak, only watched dumbly as he sat down in the sand in the space between her and Daisuke, who turned his head momentarily in the direction of the newcomer. "But - ," she began.

"But nothing," Ken replied shortly, though in a soft voice. "The magic of an upper-level digimon will always be greater than a human. Especially a human who has not reached the full potential of her magic." He was not looking at her or at anyone else, but staring at the sand between his feet as though seeing something entirely different.

"But you stopped it!" she returned, having overcoming the shock of seeing him again as well as the astonishment of having him offer something in the way of comfort.

"_I_ didn't…," he answered.

"_We_ did," Daisuke finished.

Miyako glanced briefly toward the still-sleeping Hawkmon and sighed.

* * *

Since Iori had left, Yamato was of the opinion that things were dangling above a frenzied pit on a very thin line of string that might at any second break and send the entire kingdom into chaos. He was the only one to hold such an opinion, which was likely because he had taken it upon himself (or perhaps had it thrust upon him, it wasn't quite certain) to organize a mess of paperwork.

There was an extraordinary amount of paperwork involved in the running of a kingdom, far more than the average person would ever have suspected. Records had to be kept on nearly everything, and every law that was signed into effect or enforced or debated had to be written about on a half-dozen or so forms and then filed in the appropriate spaces. Each time any of the numerous land-owning lords met with the king to express a grievance or to report on the status of his holding, notes had to be taken (Yamato was quite glad he didn't have to take notes at least) and then copied and then reviewed and then copied again and filed in the appropriate spaces.

Some things, Yamato had never quite worked out what the appropriate spaces _were_. Some things, he wasn't sure _had_ appropriate spaces. Some things fit into several different appropriate files and thus had to be copied yet again. The life of a scribe was undoubtedly a busy one.

Since the founding of the kingdom, there had been one person assigned to the running of the office – to keeping the paperwork straight and locating important papers when they were needed. Before Iori, an elderly man had been running the office. His appointed successor proved to be largely inept at the job, and Iori had slowly but surely taken over most of the actual work until his so-called supervisor had died. There was little debate as to who should replace him. No one, least of all Iori himself, had ever expected that Iori might one day soon vacate the position and thus need to train a successor. Though there were quite a few capable scribes and clerks, it was really Iori who had understood best of anyone how the system worked.

Yamato often had thoughts of 'accidentally' torching every file in the palace and forcing them to start from scratch. He had not yet followed up on this threat, but each day caused him to think even more seriously in that direction.

In the evening, he either went to one of the exercise rooms and forced one of the poor souls he found there to spar with him or he went outside and sparred with imaginary opponents. He imagined that he was fighting a horde of walking papers and file folders.

"It looks like you're fighting the shadows," Sora told him.

Startled by her unexpected voice, Yamato whirled around and, if not for her quick reflexes, might have sliced a portion of fabric from her skirts. He had not expected to hear any one else around, and had been so emerged in his activity that he had reacted as he might if an enemy approached. He lowered his sword, still breathing heavily.

"Don't sneak up on me like that," he said, half scolding. Piyomon, at her partner's feet, ruffled her feathers and cast a single brief glare in his direction but said nothing.

"I wasn't sneaking," she answered with a shrug, obviously unaffected by this brush with danger. "You were so involved in fighting imaginary opponents that you didn't hear me approach. Who are you fighting anyway?"

Yamato wiped the sweat from his brow and sheathed his sword. He sat down on a nearby bench. "Papers," he mumbled darkly. "I wish I were a mage who could control fire and I would burn them all."

Sora was quiet for a long moment. "I see," she said finally, and sat on the same bench, though, he noticed, as far from him as it was possible to be.

He sighed and wiped the back of his hand across his forehead once more. "I despise it," he said in a less intense sort of voice. "I despise paperwork and forms and files. I can't find anything, and I don't know where to look, and the more I study it to try to figure it out, the less I understand."

"I see," Sora said again, now with more sympathy than fear. "You were never cut out to be a clerk of any sort, were you?"

He snorted in amusement, finding this funny. "No. Far from it!"

"Hmm. It seems we'll need to find someone else for the job."

Yamato shook his head. "I've tried, trust me. I've tried. Not one of them wants to take over for Iori."

"Well, you could look outside that office," Sora suggested. "Beyond the clerks and those who worked with the files."

"I thought of that," he admitted. "I can't see where to look, though. The mages are mages, the doctors are doctors, the nurses are nurses, the clerks are clerks. I've tried asking amongst the cleaning crew and the cooks and such but most of them can't read very well and I can't put a scullery maid in charge of the paperwork when she can barely write her own name."

Sora fell silent, having no further suggestions. Yamato sighed again and stared up at the stars overhead. After a few moments, he glanced toward Sora. She was quiet, watching the flowers nearby dance in the wind.

"Sora?" he asked. "You came out here for something else, didn't you?"

* * *

Despite the fact that the villagers had all decided to occupy their newly-built homes that evening, the entrance hall of the large manor house in Hida once again became home to dozens of people, many of them wounded. Once again the doctors who had not returned to the palace or some other place (a few had decided to stay on full time because Hida had no other doctors) were obliged to do their jobs, tending to some who had suffered great burns or other wounds.

"It could have been far worse," Iori noted, surveying the crowd before him as he stood in the doorway of the hall, at the edge of a corridor that led beyond. "The Tyrannomon could have come south and attacked the village, undoing all our work. I feel better, now, knowing where they came from."

"It could have been disastrous," Li Tan agreed. "I must thank you for your help. We would never have been able to stop them without the help of the Chosen. We might never have hope of recovering without the help of Hida."

"I think that things will be much better if our people keep working together," Iori said. "These people don't seem to have any quarrel with your tribe. I hope we, at least, can live together."

"I don't suppose you think that Mai Wu will give up now, do you?" Takeru questioned after a moment, breaking the otherwise optimistic mood. A rather pessimistic look had appeared in his eyes, and a grimace crossed his face.

"Not likely," Li Tan answered, and his Lopmon partner, riding on his shoulders, shook his head fiercely. The tamer sighed. "I have known Mai Wu since we were children. He does not easily give in to defeat, and he does not like to admit when he is wrong. He has not always been so destructive, however."

"Destructive?" Iori echoed, glancing toward Takeru, whose face had taken on an even darker expression than before. "What do you mean by destructive?"

"He has always been stubborn," Lopmon said. "He has not always been so angry. It used to be that his stubbornness was directed elsewhere."

Li Tan had a faraway look in his eyes, as though he was recalling the distant past. He nodded to what his partner said. "When we were but teenagers, his parents were killed in a battle – a territory dispute with one of the other tribes. After that, he was angry, very angry, and not long after that, he seemed to develop a lust for power and revenge."

Iori was frowning deeply now, one eye on Takeru, one eye on the tamer as he spoke. "Power?" he echoed.

"He wished to be the leader of our tribe, and he wished to make our tribe more powerful than the other tribes. He wanted to make war between the tribes. We fought amongst ourselves before, but only minor skirmishes – territory disputes, perhaps a fight over a woman now and then. Mostly, the tribes have been peaceful.

"Mai Wu, however, wanted to subdue the others, to make the tribes unite under his leadership, and then, I believe, to travel north and threaten the king of the Northern Kingdom. I doubt he would have succeeded – I doubt he will – but he does not give up."

"Sound familiar?" Takeru questioned, turning toward Iori.

* * *

There was little sound in the gardens but the chirping of tiny insects. Even conversations from people near the palace sounded muted. It was past the evening meal, and some of the lords and ladies had come outside to take in the warm air. Music played in one of the halls, entertaining a few dancers, but this, too, sounded distant, as though coming from another world.

Sora did not speak after Yamato had asked his question. For a long moment, he wondered if she had heard him at all, and then she sighed, a faint sound.

"If not for me…," she said finally, her voice very soft. She paused, for a moment, shaking her head lightly, and then began again. "If not for me he would not have been in danger."

It was with no great difficulty that Yamato concluded she was talking about Taichi. He had noted her uncharacteristic silence the last few days, her wanderings alone in the garden, away from others. He remembered how she had quarreled with Miyako – an unusual occurrence as well. Somewhere in the back of his mind he had noticed these things, though not their reasons, and now he realized the cause of them all.

"If not for you…," he echoed, shaking his head. "If not for you he might be dead!" His voice came out a bit louder than he had intended, and the insects' chirping momentarily paused. Sora lifted her head and stared at him with wide eyes.

"It was I who…," she began, a half-second after the insects had resumed their conversations.

"It was you," he interrupted sharply. "It was you who saved him, have you forgotten that? Have you forgotten that Birdramon evolved?"

"It was my fault that we went on the stupid picnic," she returned.

"Your fault? He did not go unwillingly."

"He did. He didn't want to go."

Yamato sighed, shaking his head. "As though he would refuse you," he mumbled, and Sora had no response to this. "He didn't want you to know, but he was glad to get away, I'm sure of it."

"He told you that?"

"No," he admitted, "but I know it. Do you suppose he likes spending hours in meetings and arguing with the Northern lords any more than I like organizing paperwork all day? If someone dragged me out on a picnic, I would protest, of course! It's my job to take care of the paperwork and the files, and I don't want to abandon it, as much as I hate it."

There was a long silence as Sora seemed to be taking this in. Then, she said, "I wonder if it's a sign."

"A sign?" he echoed blankly.

"A sign that perhaps it's not the best idea to walk away from our important tasks."

Yamato snorted in disbelief and skepticism. "You really believe that?" he echoed. "You really suppose that Someone wants us to stay indoors and fill out paperwork?"

Sora shrugged. "Maybe…," she admitted. "I was always told that it would be best if I stayed indoors and learned to embroider. I certainly wasn't embroidering that day."

Again he snorted, this time in amusement. "I think your fate holds a greater purpose for you than embroidering, Sora," he told her. "I'd like to think my fate is not to do paperwork. If we were meant to do those things, would we have been Chosen?"

"I should hope not!" Piyomon piped up, indignantly.

"So what do you suppose my fate is?" Sora wondered.

* * *

A tall glass door was propped open, a heavy stone set on the ground before the wood frame, preventing it from slamming shut in the wind. Gentle breezes gusted through, causing the long drapes beside the open door to dance in the night.

A few papers rustled in the breeze, but they were prevented from escaping by a few well-placed paperweights, some of rather ornate design. A cup of some delicious-tasting liquid sat atop another pile.

There was a quiet, gentle tap on the thick, heavy door, but it was barely heard over the sound of the wind. From the rooms below, gentle music waltzed in with the breezes. After a moment, another tap sounded, but it disappeared as the first had, hidden behind the sound of a scratching pen as it darted across the papers. There was a click as the doorknob turned and opened.

"Taichi?"

He looked up from his papers, his ink-stained hands and the words that had begun to swim on the paper. Seeing who had entered, he got to his feet.

"I'm sorry to bother you," Hikari said, having only half-entered the room. "I can come back when you're not busy."

"I'm never not busy," he answered with a grin, "and I'm never too busy for you. I didn't know you'd returned."

"A few hours ago. I thought I'd take a nap and a bath before I saw anyone." She stepped in, the door shutting behind her with the same soft click. "Mimi tells me you've been battling over Hida."

"Endlessly," he replied, wiping his forehead as though he had recently completed some strenuous task. He stepped away from the desk, toward a couch, taking the cup with him. A bottle of the liquid he had been drinking was on the table near the couch. "Do you want…?" he began, and she shook her head before sitting beside him.

"You'll be glad to know, if you haven't heard from Takeru already, that the crystal in Takaishi is safe," she told him. "Mimi told me he's gone to Hida."

"Yes. That was a funny letter we got from Koushiro. He doesn't have a clue how Takeru transported himself clear across the kingdom in less than an hour."

Hikari smiled a secretive sort of smile. "Some things are best left unexplained," she said. A strong, cool breeze distracted her, rustling the papers and causing the curtains to wave more than before. One of the papers broke free of the weight designed to hold it and it danced across the desk.

If Taichi noticed, he didn't care, for he was looking at his sister's face as though he was studying an interesting book. After a moment, she became aware of his eyes, and turned back to him with a questioning glance. He looked away almost immediately.

"Something is on your mind," Hikari said before he could say whatever it was he had been thinking. Now she was looking at him with an intense gaze. "You've been waiting for me…something you want to talk about?"

"There's always something on my mind," he answered lightly, shrugging. "Are you trying to read my thoughts?"

Again she smiled, the same sort of secretive smile. "I've only known you my entire life," she reminded him. "If I had an idea of what anyone is thinking, it would be you."

A cold breeze rushed in, rattling the windowpanes and scattering a few papers across the desk. Taichi got to his feet and shut the door, kicking aside the stone that had held it open. "I've been thinking about the future," he said when the door had been shut. "Especially since I nearly froze to death."

"Froze to death?" Hikari echoed, suddenly appearing a bit paler than before. "Was it really that bad?"

"Depends on who you ask. According to Jyou, cutting your finger open on a nail could lead to your death. Yamato says he's exaggerating. Sora…." He sighed, crossed the room and sat down heavily on the couch again.

"She doesn't want to think about it," Hikari finished, her expression grim.

"Maybe not," he answered. "I don't."

There was silence for a few moments. Another gust of wind rattled the windowpanes, but the door was firmly shut and the curtains didn't move. The air seemed to have grown colder in the last few minutes.

"Anyway," Taichi said, no longer thinking dark thoughts, "I've been thinking about the future. That, and several people have told me that I should be thinking about the future…." He frowned.

"Several people who are not your friends?" Hikari questioned, and he frowned even harder.

"Several people…," he mumbled, and shook his head, sighing, pushing aside the dark thoughts again. "People have been telling me that I ought to think about the future…you know what that means, don't you?"

His sister grinned now, nodding. "Yes. It means that they want you to think of the future of our kingdom and the welfare of our people. They want you to chose some hapless woman and produce a gaggle of children."

He frowned at her teasing, but she only grinned wider. "Some hapless woman," he said, "is not precisely what I want."

"Well…it's not always about what _we_ want is it?" she reminded him, now frowning slightly. "Do they want you to marry your cousin…or perhaps your own sister?"

"Hikari," he said darkly, and she stopped, shrugging.

"Well, do they have someone in mind?"

"Not yet," he answered. "Give them a week and they'll find some…'hapless woman,' as you so delicately put it." He frowned even harder.

"Ah…," Hikari said then, understanding suddenly spreading across her face. "I see. You've got someone in mind of your own, don't you?"

For a moment, Taichi was astonished by this statement. He lifted his head and stared at her with wide eyes. "I swear, you do read minds, don't you?" he asked.

She laughed, a short burst of giggles that faded almost as soon as she had begun. "It's not so complicated and mysterious as you make it seem," she told him. "Anyone who has ever seen you near her knows you are in love and you have been for…for who knows how long. If you're afraid she doesn't return your affections, you have nothing to worry about. "

He had not taken his eyes from her yet and he did not do so now. Then he blinked once and turned his head away to stare at the floor. "It's not that," he answered. "It's…."

Though he didn't finish his sentence, Hikari knew precisely of what he spoke. She grew solemn again and sighed heavily. "I know," she said comfortingly and slid across the couch to put a hand on his shoulder. "I don't think you have anything to worry about. I think that she could manage being Queen."

* * *

After a few chapters of nearly non-stop action, a bit of quiet to fill in the spaces. Some readers may be happy to know that I've almost gotten to the point where I can see an end to this story (although not yet the entire universe). Wow. Gasp. It's a miracle, isn't it?

Thanks to everyone who has been reading and leaving very helpful reviews. I'm sorry I haven't had time to respond to them, but know that I've definitely been reading them and taking them into consideration when I write. It's actually been helpful in moving the story forward.

So what's next? Well, probably another chapter of building tension before the big battle breaks out. Though I can see the end, there's still some kinks to work out before the big to-do. Stay tuned!


	13. Gathering Storm Clouds

**The Crystal Gate**

**Part Thirteen: **Gathering Storm Clouds

* * *

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie: **_Digimon_ is not mine, including most characters and all digimon. Plot is mine. Don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo.

* * *

Although the day before had been bright and sunny, with the evening came cool breezes and heavy clouds, and by morning a steady downpour was falling. The palace's residents awoke in a sleepy state. For the first time in a few weeks, fires had to be lit in more than the kitchen hearths, and those who had set aside warmer clothing now pulled out sweaters and jackets to ward off the returning cold.

Hikari slept late, partially because of the rain and partially because she was still a bit tired from the previous days' journey from Takaishi. The morning meal had been served and cleared away by the time she awoke, her head feeling heavy and her mind feeling fuzzy. It took some effort to pull herself from bed, fighting against the rain-induced lethargy, and then the chill in her room startled her into wakefulness.

She took a thin blanket from the bed and wrapped it over her shoulders, her bare feet thankful for warm, soft carpeting as she crossed the room to the window. Outside, the gardens were emptied of the usual gardeners, strollers, and flower-admirers. A few servants darted through the rain, their footsteps splashing in the shallow puddles that formed on the stone paths. The grass had become swamp-like, nearly underwater, and the dirt in the flowerbeds was quickly turning to mud. A cold breeze battered the outside of the window and slipped through the cracks. A chill ran down her spine.

Tailmon, still lying on the bed, lifted her head and yawned wide. Her big blue eyes seemed to shine in the dim light. "Rain?" she wondered sleepily, disappointment evident in her voice. "Yuck." She yawned again.

"Not simply rain, I think," Hikari disagreed. She was peering out into the gardens, though her eyes suggested that she was not actually seeing anything beyond her window. "Something feels strange."

"Strange? Strange as in good, or strange as in bad?" Tailmon questioned. She sat up and stretched, arching her back and yawning once again before jumping down from the bed to cross the room.

"Strange as in bad, I think," her partner answered, frowning slightly. "I don't know why, yet. It's too vague."

"You slept a long time," the feline digimon noted. "No dreams?"

She shook her head. "Nothing I remember well enough to be of any help," came the response. "Dreams are not the most reliable way of obtaining information anyway." She sighed and turned away from the window.

Tailmon had climbed on to a chair so she might have a better view of the gardens beyond. Not much of a fan of rainy weather, she had no interest in going outside that day. Below, a few footsteps splashed through the water as some unfortunate soul who was obliged to be out in the nasty weather hurried for shelter. "Maybe it's only rain," she said hopefully.

* * *

Miyako awoke after a series of mildly disturbing dreams. The moment she opened her eyes, bright sun assaulted her, and she shut them again; the dreams evaporating from her memory. She rolled over on to her side, but the sun did not fade in the slightest.

The sound of the others conversing nearby prevented her from falling back to sleep. She could hear the crackling of a fire, and wondered who would be insane enough to light a fire when the sun itself felt hot enough to fry her skin in seconds. After a few moments, the scent of roasting fish caused her stomach to moan with hunger, and she tried opening her eyes again.

All there was, as there had ever been in this part of the desert, was the sand. All she saw was sand everywhere, and all she felt was heat. She rolled back onto her back and saw the sky, bright blue, extending without clouds in every direction.

"Should be enough to last a few days," Shijo was saying. "Shouldn't be a problem."

"That's enough for breakfast," his partner disagreed, and as Miyako sat up, she saw they were discussing a small pile of fish similar to the ones now being cooked. "What will you eat?"

"That's enough for a few days," Shijo returned, sounding a bit frustrated. "You'll have to eat a little less than usual so long as we're traveling. Unless you'd like to carry an entire Whamon on your back?"

"I wouldn't eat a Whamon," Agumon answered, sounding appalled at the very idea.

"Well then, this will have to last us, then," the boy replied. He had, as he had the night before, skewered a few small fish on sticks and had propped them over the fire. He turned them now so they might cook on both sides.

Miyako helped herself to a few sips more of water. The night had been cool until the sun had risen, and the water was still cool, though not as icily delicious as it had been the night before. She brushed some hairs from her face – a few of them had stuck to her skin with sweat.

Daisuke was standing a few steps away from the fire, staring off into the distance, a frown on his face, as though he were unhappy about something. Miyako wondered if he was unhappy about the heat of the desert or the previous day's battle or something else entirely, but whichever it was, she didn't feel inclined to approach him about it. She glanced toward Ken, who was seated closer to the fire, drinking from a canteen, but he was looking into the flames as though they might hold the secret to life, and also didn't seem in the mood for conversation.

"Well, it's done," Shijo announced, taking one of the skewers away from the flame. He held it near to his face and sniffed. A grin crossed his face as he determined it was ready to eat, smelling delicious. "One each!" he scolded his partner, since Agumon already had a greedy look in his eyes as though he planned to eat every one of them for himself.

The meal was eaten in relative silence, each person and digimon being quite content for the moment with the food. Halfway through her fish, Miyako ventured to ask, "Are you going back there?"

Daisuke slowly chewed his mouthful of food before he replied. Shijo turned toward him, eyes wide, eager for the answer. After what seemed like an eternity, he shook his head. Shijo looked as though he couldn't decide whether to be thrilled or disappointed.

"No," he said finally. "I'm not going to find anything there."

"If there's anything left undestroyed," V-mon added, mouth half-full of delicious fish.

"Undestroyed?" Miyako echoed.

"The whole room nearly caved in before we got out," Shijo told her.

"Be amazing…if anything is left undamaged…," Agumon added between bites.

"There wasn't anything," Ken said shortly, and the conversation ended.

"You're sure…?" Miyako ventured to question after a moment of uncomfortable silence had passed. "Maybe somewhere you hadn't looked…?" He shook his head and tore off a piece of fish with his teeth.

Another long moment of semi-uncomfortable silence passed, though Miyako was beginning to get the impression that she was possibly the only one uncomfortable.

"So, where are we going now?" Shijo questioned, looking toward Daisuke, who frowned at him as if to remind him that he had not precisely been invited along on the journey.

"Back to the palace," Daisuke answered after a few moments of glaring which Shijo pretended to be oblivious to. "I have this bad feeling…."

* * *

"What do you mean you don't travel in the rain?" Takeru questioned. "I've seen Piyomon travel in the rain plenty of times!"

A group of Piyomon that were to become the messengers of Hida had settled itself into what had once been a shed behind the manor house. They'd appropriated a section of the grounds for their own, but for the moment, each of the fifteen was within the ramshackle building. Some were napping, some were chatting amongst themselves, and some had taken it upon themselves to try to repair some of the building, for a few drops of water were falling through the damaged roof.

"Sorry, sir," said the spokes-bird. "This is a big storm, I can feel it in my wings. The wind is strong and the air is cold, and it will only get stronger the further south I go."

"The further south…?" Takeru echoed, then shook his head. "Look, I need to have this message delivered to the palace…."

"Sorry sir," said the Piyomon yet again. "I can't travel in this weather. Maybe you don't know, since you don't fly, but it's not an ordinary storm. It'd be too risky for us to travel in this weather. As soon as the weather clears, I'd be happy to carry your message…."

Takeru sighed in frustration and left the shed, letting the door slam behind him. Outside, he stood under the overhanging rafters for a long moment and watched the rain fall. The sound of the rain pounding heavily on the shed roof overhead threatened to drown out the sound of his thoughts, if only for a few moments.

"Do _you_ feel anything strange in the air?" he questioned of his partner, who, as usual, was perched atop his head.

"No…," Patamon admitted, "but I'm not a bird digimon. Maybe it's an intuition you only have if you have feathers."

"You have feathers when you evolve!"

"Yes, but I'm still not a bird," he answered calmly. "What's in this message you want so desperately to have delivered?"

"It's not anything important," Takeru admitted, stepping away from the rafters and heading back to the large house. Rain soaked him almost immediately, but he'd gotten drenched heading to the shed and so he barely noticed it. "I only wanted to tell them about Shakkoumon, and hope there'd be some information."

For a few moments, there was no sound but the steady pounding of the rain. Takeru followed a path of raised, flat stones back to the house, grateful for their presence allowed him to avoid sinking in the mud. Before long he'd reached the back door. It opened with a creak and he stood in what had once been a kitchen, water dripping from every part of him on to the floor.

"Something about the way those Piyomon were talking makes me feel uneasy," Takeru admitted, pulling his shoes and socks off. His socks were soaked clear through and his shoes, one of the only things that had traveled with him from Takaishi, had small puddles of water in the heels when he took them off. His feet were cold, but at least he didn't squish when he walked.

"About how they said it was no ordinary storm?" Patamon questioned. "That makes me feel like maybe something bad is going to happen."

"Reminds me of how Vamdemon made the sky cloud over and blocked the sun," his partner recalled. He pulled off the thin jacket he'd been wearing. Like most of the clothes he wore, it was borrowed, and he hung it on the doorknob so it might dry.

"Weather magic, maybe?" Patamon wondered, shaking the worst of the water off with a shiver. "Maybe we should tell Koushiro. Maybe he'd know what's going on."

* * *

Much as embroidery and sewing were not Sora's favorite activities, there wasn't much else to be done on a rainy afternoon. She had lately been in the habit of wandering through the gardens, sometimes bringing with her a book to read in the bright sunlight, the scent of the flowers hanging about in the spring air. Today, however, the morning's gentle misting had grown into a steady downpour, and so she followed Mimi into her favorite sewing parlor and took up a complex pattern showing Piyomon flying cheerfully through gardens with huge flowers opening below them. The happy scene was depressing on a day like this, when her own Piyomon was not flying through the flowers but lazily perched on the back of a tall chair, falling in and out of sleep.

Mimi was her usual cheerful self, her mood seemingly oblivious to the depressing weather. She kept up a steady stream of chatter, which Sora occasionally was obliged to respond to, rarely with more than a nod or a mumble of agreement. The afternoon slowly dragged on until the door to the room opened and a tall pile of papers entered.

Actually, it was Yamato behind a tall pile, but at first it appeared as though he were truly a walking pile of papers. He shut the door with some difficulty and crossed the room, setting the pile down on the low table between the chairs. He sank on to the floor beside it, sighing heavily in frustration.

"What's all that?" Mimi ventured to ask, looking to be rather alarmed at the size of the pile.

"My worst enemy," Yamato answered darkly, a rather frightening sort of look in his eyes.

"I'm sure," she answered dryly, and laughed. "Now, that'd would be funny, wouldn't it? A mighty warrior felled by a pile of papers?"

He glared even more intensely in her direction until she'd stopped giggling and leaned back in her chair, hiding behind her work, suddenly seeming to be incredibly concerned with where the needle should next be placed. Then, he sighed again and picked up the topmost paper.

Sora, who had remained so quiet he had barely noticed her, ventured to question in a much more reasonable tone, "What is that all about?"

"The scary part of it is that I don't even know," he answered, squinting at the scribbles on the page. "Something having to do with a law regarding Piyomon…?"

"Compensation of messenger services," Mimi said, not glancing up from her work. "It's a law requiring that Piyomon and anyone else who carries a message be compensated appropriately for their services."

There was a long moment of stunned silence in which both Sora and Yamato stared at her with open mouths. "How did you - ?" Yamato began.

"Considering everything, I'm surprised _you_ don't," Mimi answered, still not looking up from her embroidering. "The leader of the largest Piyomon village in Yagami was here only two mornings ago to meet with the king, complaining about how little the Piyomon are paid for their services. They have to eat, you know, that's why they work."

"People don't pay them?" Sora questioned, glancing briefly toward Yamato, who was staring at Mimi as though he had never seen her before.

"They do," she answered, finally glancing up from her work long enough to noticed that she was being stared at. "Not very much, though, and there's no additional compensation if there's danger. There should be, of course, but some people don't and…." She trailed off, beginning to feel uncomfortable. "What?"

Yamato set down the paper and took the next one from the pile. "And this?" he questioned, thrusting it toward Mimi.

She took it from him, a suspicious look in her eyes as though she expected this to be some sort of joke. After a moment, she set it down, shrugging, "Wagon wheels," she said. When this statement returned only a blank stare from him, she sighed. "This is an old one, been argued about for the last two seasons. Wagon wheels should be made to a certain size and of a certain sort of wood or metal."

"There's a law about wagon wheels?" Sora questioned.

"There is now," Mimi answered. "They have to be strong enough to carry a certain amount of cargo, of course, and this is to ensure that at least any wagons that carry things to the palace will have wheels strong enough to carry the load."

"Amazing," Yamato said, and took the paper back. "Transportation…commerce regulations…I see." He took the next from the pile and handed it to her. "This one?"

She sighed heavily and took the paper. "Honestly, Yamato, what's this about?"

"Read, read!" he answered, taking a pen and ink and marking notes of what she had said on the top of the other two pages. "I might actually see an end to this before midnight if you help!"

* * *

"Weather magic?" Koushiro echoed, glancing up from the heavy volume he'd been absorbed in, a dark frown on his face. "I haven't sensed anything unusual, but I never spent much time studying weather magic and how it functions…."

"The Piyomon seem to think something's wrong with the weather," Takeru told him, sitting on a makeshift wooden chair. It looked as though it might fall apart if he sat too hard, and so he did not fall into it as he was inclined to do. He was still mostly soaked from the rain, and so it was a good thing that the office Koushiro had claimed as his own was not filled with expensive furniture to ruin. "They won't fly."

"I've never known a Piyomon to be deterred by rain," the wizard noted, frowning in thought. "I also find it to be a bad sign if we can't communicate with the rest of the world. If the storm is caused by magic, maybe it's something to be worried about." He sighed, leaning back in his own quickly-made chair, and scratched his head absently. "I should have brought more books with me."

"Isn't there some way you could send a message magically?" Takeru wondered. "Miyako is still at the palace – maybe she could search through books and find something of use."

"I could try to send a message on the wind," he replied, "but that would be less reliable than a Piyomon if the storm is magically created. I know of a few other ways of communicating, but they won't do any good because Miyako doesn't know them, and so she wouldn't get the message." Koushiro frowned even deeper and sighed.

"Well, there has to be some way of sending a message," Takeru said. "I don't know why, but if this _is_ a storm created by magic, that means that someone is trying to prevent us from communicating…but who?"

"Maybe Mummymon and that sorceress?" Patamon suggested.

"I don't know if she has that sort of power," Koushiro admitted. "Weather magic is a very difficult thing to perform…that's why you don't see too many weather mages around these days. It takes a lot of power, drains one very quickly. Even the wind spell Miyako's nearly mastered is very draining and leaves her exhausted. To create a massive storm, to keep it going for very long…it's very difficult. I don't know if that sorceress has enough power."

"She seems to have powerful magic," Takeru recalled, thinking of the warrior digimon who had appeared from nowhere and attacked him in the rice fields. "I don't know about weather, though."

Koushiro was quiet for a long moment, running through a mental list of possible spells, silently calculating a dozen different things in his mind. Takeru, sensing that he was thinking and not simply staring blankly into space, fell silent rather than interrupt with questions or theories, a thousand of which occurred to him with every passing second. After what felt like an eternity, the wizard looked toward him.

"Did you write something down for the Piyomon to carry?" he questioned. Takeru nodded and held out the slightly damp piece of paper for him to see. "It will have to be rewritten. I think I might add a few words to it." He turned in his chair and found a dry sheet of paper and a bottle of ink. A few moments later, he had rewritten the entirety of the letter and added a few lines of his own. Then, he folded the paper in a complex pattern.

Takeru thought to question if there was some magic involved in the folding, but fell silent, realizing before he had even formed the question in his mind that there most certainly was. He knew it with certainty, he realized, the same way as he had known that the crystal would take him where he needed to be. He reached absently into his pocket and felt the smooth surface of the polished rock and wondered if the time had come for him to be somewhere else. If he had hoped for some sort of answer from the crystal, however, it gave him none.

His musings were interrupted then as Koushiro rose from his seat, taking the folded piece of paper with him. Takeru hurried to follow him from the room, down the hall, and up the stairs. They ascended several flights, passing through rooms filled with ancient furniture and piles of ancient accounting binders before finding a nearly-empty room with a set of tall glass doors that opened on to a balcony. The sound of the rain was loud here, but Koushiro opened the windows wide, ignoring the mist that soaked him with the first gentle wisp of the wind.

"Let us hope I remember how to do this," the wizard mumbled, and Takeru remembered only then that Koushiro had never been much of a _practicing_ wizard but more of a studying, teaching sort of wizard. He squeezed his fingers tight around the folds of papers and again Takeru came to the immediate realization that there was some magic involved in this action as well. Then, Koushiro raised his arms in the air and tossed the paper out the window.

For a moment, it dropped like a stone, and Takeru thought that the spell must certainly have failed. Then, a gentle gust of wind tossed it upward and then, by perhaps its own power, the paper floated even higher, and then took off in a southerly direction at a surprisingly quick rate of speed. For a moment, Takeru stared in open-mouthed astonishment, for any sort of magic is astonishing to one who has never seen it before. "I suppose it worked, then," he said then, trying to sound casual, as though this sort of thing were nothing at all.

Koushiro sighed for what must have been the thousandth time that day. "Let us hope it did," he said and shut the doors behind him. "Let us hope it finds the right destination despite the rain."

"Does the storm seem magical to you?" Patamon wondered from where he had rested on his partner's head.

The wizard only shrugged. "In some ways," he admitted, "and in some ways not. Magic is not so simple as to be there or not there. There is magic in the air, but…," he sighed yet again. "It is hard to say for certain."

* * *

After half a day of walking, they were still not in sight of the edge of the desert. Although everyone was fairly certain they were headed in the right direction, they'd seen no landmarks of any kind to judge their progress, and the constantly shifting, never ending sands made it hard to be completely sure.

Shortly after noon, with the sun in the highest part of the sky and the air hotter than ever, Miyako felt her legs give out and she fell down into the sand, feeling exhausted. Even now, her muscles and bones and every part of her body ached with each step she took. She'd ignored the pain for most of the day, but it had only grown worse, and finally she gave in to it and sank down into the sand on her knees, shutting her eyes to block out the bright sun.

"Maybe you're not _completely_ all right," V-mon noted, peering around his partner's legs with a concerned glance.

"It has been a long day of walking," Agumon observed, watching as his partner pulled one of the half-filled canteens from his pack and offered it to Miyako. "My legs feel about to give out, too. Of course, I haven't had legs for very long, so that might be why."

"I'm all right," Miyako said, taking the canteen from Shijo and quickly downing a few gulps before remembering that they needed to conserve water. "Just a little…tired."

"I think more than a little," Ken disagreed. "Maybe we should rest for a while."

There was no disagreement to this, and even Miyako, who didn't want the others to feel as though she was holding them up, found she couldn't muster the energy to fight it. Immediately, Ken sat in the sand and took a few gulps of water, and Shijo, Agumon, and V-mon followed suit. Daisuke had stopped walking, but did not sit as the others did. Instead, he was staring in the direction they were heading, squinting in the sunlight, concentrating as though he was trying to see something.

"Don't you want some water?" V-mon questioned, holding up the canteen. Daisuke absently shook his head, not even glancing back toward the others. V-mon shrugged and took a few more gulps before reluctantly closing the bottle.

"Are you looking for something?" Miyako questioned. "You've been staring out into the sands all day. Are you looking for some landmark that I don't know about?"

He shook his head again, still not seeming to pay attention to the question, and then sighed and sat down in the sand as the others did, taking the canteen from his partner. "Trees, mostly," he said, shrugging, and taking a few gulps.

There was a bit of fruit, a few days old by now and so not as tasty as when it had been fresh, but still better than nothing. Since he hadn't the energy to cook more of the fish, Shijo handed a few of the fruits around. For a few moments there was silence as everyone ate and took a few more sips of water.

There was a calm gust of a warm breeze that did almost nothing to cool the air but thankfully didn't scatter the sand. No one spoke. There was no sound in the sands.

Suddenly, the wind grew stronger and the air grew slightly colder. A strange sensation sent shivers down her spine as the feel of magic drifted through the air. Miyako got to her feet immediately, forgetting for the moment about the soreness in her body and her exhaustion, and cast out with her magical senses.

"What are you doing?" Hawkmon questioned from where he lay, half-asleep in the sand below.

"I sense magic…," she answered.

"Bad magic?" V-mon asked, looking around for something, he didn't know what.

"No…," she answered vaguely, squinting through the bright light, honing the magical sense of her vision, catching sight of a sparkle in the sunlight, a flash of color other than the pale blue of the sky or the pale beige and yellow of the sands. "There!"

"You're not going to - ," Daisuke began, fearful of sandstorms, but she ignored him, dashing across the sand quickly. After a moment, the others could see that a small scrap of paper was floating gently on the breeze.

"What is that?" Shijo questioned, but no one hand any sort of explanation.

The paper didn't seem interested in coming to the ground, and so Miyako was obliged to use magic to force it down, sending her surprisingly strong magic up into the clouds to wrap around the floating object. When she'd grabbed hold of it, she pulled it in and took it in her hands. It was, as it had seemed to be, a scrap of paper.

It was damp and slightly tattered, no doubt the result of having traveled a far distance on the breeze, perhaps through rain and clouds. For a few moments she held it in her hands, feeling the magic that had carried it, each second her frown slowly spreading into a wide smile.

"You seem happy," Hawkmon commented when she'd returned to where the others were seated.

"Odd way to feel over a scrap of paper," V-mon said, tossing the pit of his devoured fruit in the air and catching it.

"It's not any old paper," Miyako scolded him, a frown briefly reappearing, only to be quickly replaced by the same cheerful sort of grin. "This is a message, sent by magic, and, unless I'm mistaken, it's from Koushiro."

"The wizard at the palace sent a message?" Wormmon questioned, obviously still confused over why this had her in such a good mood.

She shook her head. "He's not at the palace, he's in Takaishi." She began to open the paper with some care, as dampness had caused it to stick to itself. "It must be raining there," she said wistfully, jealous of the rain as only one who has been spending a lot of time in the desert can be. "This paper is a bit wet."

"What does it say?" V-mon questioned when she'd opened it fully.

"The ink has run a bit, so it's not easy to decipher," she admitted, her smile fading. "Something about…Shakkoumon?" She shook her head. "I've never heard of that digimon." She glanced up and cast her gaze at the others, but saw only blank stares in response.

"It's raining in Takaishi," she continued. "I could have told him that. Why would he write me with a weather report? Something about Piyomon…."

"Piyomon?" Hawkmon echoed. "What about Piyomon?"

Squinting even harder to make out the blurry ink, Miyako stared blankly at the paper for a few moments longer but was unable to make out the rest of the message. She shook her head and groaned in frustration. "Why would he send a paper message in the rain? Did he not think it would be damaged?"

"How did he know to find you in the desert?" V-mon wondered.

"He probably didn't," she answered, falling back in the sand and letting the paper drop to the ground beside her. "He probably set the spell to find me, and it did, even if I wasn't where he thought I would be."

"The Piyomon won't fly," Ken said, having taken up the paper. "That would explain why he didn't send it with a Piyomon."

"Won't fly?" Hawkmon repeated. "Why?"

He shrugged. "Something about rain…."

"Piyomon fly in the rain," V-mon disagreed, glancing toward his partner. "We've gotten messages carried by Piyomon in the middle of thunderstorms, haven't we?" Daisuke nodded.

"Unless…," Miyako sat up again and looked at the paper over Ken's shoulder.

"Unless it was a magical storm," he finished.


	14. Entanglements

**The Crystal Gate**

**Part Fourteen: **Entanglements

* * *

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:** _Digimon_ is not mine, including all characters, etc. Plot is mine. Don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo.

* * *

The sky was dark, with no stars shining. Miyako found herself standing on the edge of a stone wall, the wind whipping around her so that it was all she could do to keep her hair from obstructing her already limited vision. The air felt damp, as though a storm was about to form, and a few sparks of lightning flashed in the air, momentarily illuminating the area around her.

She was standing on the stone wall that surrounded the palace gardens. Nearby, she could make out a few shadows that were other people on the wall as well. She looked around and saw that everyone was focused on something in the center of the garden.

There was another flash of light, this time a red flash, and she felt magic – powerful magic – so strongly that she took a step backwards and teetered for a moment on the edge of the wall. She felt a pang in her chest, same as she had when she had felt the crystal, only stronger, more powerful, and she felt as though she was going to explode from the pressure within.

She awoke, breathing heavy, to find that she was still in the desert, the cold night air as dry as ever, sweat beading on her forehead. Nearby, she could hear Shijo mumbling in his sleep as he turned over, and she could see his shadow by the light of the stars and the pale half-moon.

"A dream?" she wondered aloud, startling herself with the sound of her voice in the quiet. A cool breeze drifted through the cold night, and she shivered and wrapped her cloak tighter around her.

It was soon clear that she wasn't likely to fall back to sleep, however, and she sat up, pulling the cloak around her as she did, her mind turning over the memories of the dream. It had seemed so real, so certain, that she was still wondering if it had been reality and this was a dream now.

"Can't sleep?" said a voice, startling her because she had thought she was the only one awake. She turned her head toward it and saw that Daisuke was also awake, sitting a short distance away. He didn't turn his head to face her, but was looking northwest, his eyes focused on the empty space between the sky and the horizon.

Calming her rapidly beating heart, Miyako got to her feet and moved to sit beside him, eager for something to erase the memories of the dream. It had not been frightening, and yet it left her feeling uneasy and disturbed. "You either?" she asked casually, hoping her voice wasn't shaking, hoping that tonight would be one of those times that Daisuke was in the mood for conversation.

She didn't expect that it would be, and so was surprised when he briefly glanced her way before answering, "No," with a resigned sort of sigh.

"Something's bothering you," she said, knowing it with certainty rather than speculation. "What makes you in such a hurry to get back to the palace?"

"They have a crystal now," he reminded her, not looking in her direction, but not putting any malice in his voice as she expected him to. "It don't think it'll be hard for them to get hold of the others."

"Yes," she agreed, quickly putting aside the matter of _how_ Arachnemon and Mummymon had managed to obtain that crystal. "That's not what keeps you awake at night, though, is it?"

"Maybe," he answered, shrugging. "What is it that woke you? A dream?"

Miyako shivered, both at the memory of the dream and from a cold breeze that chose that moment to dance through the desert. "Yeah," she mumbled.

* * *

After having spent the entire day so far separating and filing and organizing, Yamato set down the last paper he'd been working on and stormed out of the office before his desire to torch the place overwhelmed him. He retrieved his favorite sword from his room and went outside into the gardens where he might relieve his frustrations on some unsuspecting shadows.

After a half-hour or so of swinging at nothing, Yamato set down his sword and sat heavily on a bench in the cool shade of the tree. The sun was slowly sinking, but still high in the sky, and it was a warm day for late spring.

"You look as though you are in need of a drink," said a voice behind him, and he turned to see that Mimi had carried a tray of drinks out. She set it on the bench and handed one to him, taking one for herself. "It's warm out here today."

He drank half the cup in a single gulp, pausing only briefly to nod in thanks. "I couldn't stay in that stifling office any longer," he said, wiping some of the sweat from his brow. "I'd like to slash the papers to bits."

"I don't see why you think it's such a difficult job," she told him. "All you need to do is pay attention to what's going on."

His eyes narrowed, and he clenched the glass rather tightly and took another gulp of his drink. The sweet taste and the cool relief distracted him from his frustration, thereby possibly saving Mimi's life.

"I don't suppose you've seen Sora today," she went on, apparently oblivious to her brush with death.

"No," he said, forgetting his anger. "Why - ?"

"I have," Mimi answered. "She seems as though she is greatly preoccupied with something, but I don't know what."

"Where is she?"

"As usual, in the gardens, staring at the flowers without seeing them," she reported. "Her mind seems preoccupied with something, but she won't tell me what."

"Maybe _nothing_," he pointed out. "Maybe nothing that's any of your business."

Mimi shook her head forcefully. "No, something's wrong," she insisted. "I wish I knew what."

Yamato finished his drink and set it down on the tray once more. "I'm sure if it was something horrible, Sora would talk to you about it," he said, shrugging. "Since she hasn't, it's probably nothing." He got to his feet once more. "I've got another thousand or so papers to file, so I'll leave you to it."

Mimi scowled, watching him go, but said nothing. Instead, she turned her gaze in the other direction, where she could see that Sora was wandering absently among the flowers, Piyomon flying cheerfully in the sky above.

"He might be right, you know," Palmon said, looking up from a few of the flowers she'd been speaking to nearby. "Piyomon certainly doesn't seem to be upset about anything. If something were troubling her, don't you think Piyomon would know about it?"

"I suppose you're right," Mimi admitted. "Maybe I'm overreacting. Maybe I'm expecting bad news."

* * *

"And so?" Hikari asked, frustrated because Taichi had left off the story at the most interesting point. He was absently peering down into the gardens, where nothing interesting seemed to be happening besides a few gardeners watering the tulips.

"And that was it," he answered, shrugging, managing to pull himself away from the edge of the veranda.

"That was it?" she echoed, staring at him as though he had somehow lost his mind. "You told her…."

"I told her everything," he finished, sinking into a chair with a sigh. "I told her that I'm in love with her and I want to…to get married, and that it wouldn't be easy on her and I'd understand if she didn't want to, but I'd rather marry her than one of my cousins." He leaned back and stared up at the bright, cheerful blue sky above.

"And she said…."

"And she didn't say anything. She stared at me for a long time and didn't say anything."

"And then she left?"

He shrugged. "Pretty much."

Hikari sat down in a chair a few steps away and stared at him for a long moment. "You're leaving something out," she said then.

"I'm allowed to have secrets, aren't I?" he returned, sitting up again. He let out a frustrated groan and then fell back into the seat, staring up at the sky again. "Maybe you were wrong. Maybe she doesn't…."

"No," she interrupted. "I'm sure about that part."

* * *

The previous day's torrential downpour had faded into nothing more than a faint drizzle and an endless mist, but Takeru couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. He spent a large part of the morning staring at the crystal, hoping it would give him some sort of clue or some answer to what was going on, but it remained a lifeless stone, occasionally sparkling in the dim light. Patamon slept late, yawning awake sometime around noon to convince his partner to get something to eat. Takeru left his partner with a pile of what was left over from breakfast and sought out Koushiro, taking a small piece of fruit with him as he went.

The wizard was, as always, immersed in a thick volume of something that Takeru only half understood. He didn't look up from his book when Takeru entered, and occasionally mumbled something absently under his breath or scratched a note to himself on a scrap of paper. Not wishing to disturb him, Takeru sank into a rickety, hastily built chair and ate the fruit he'd taken for his breakfast. He pulled the crystal from his pocket and set it on the edge of the desk in front of him as he ate.

Koushiro lowered the book, noticing the crystal before the one who'd set it down. Takeru took another bite of the fruit, the crunch echoing in the otherwise quiet space, the sound bouncing off the tall ceiling and the bare walls. "I've been staring at it all morning and it hasn't given me any answers," he confessed when he'd swallowed. "Do you- ?"

"It's not going to give me any answers that it doesn't give you," Koushiro answered, looking up. "I can't tell for certain, but I'd guess that it's one of those magical objects that works best with one person and not another."

Another crunch echoed in the quiet room. Takeru chewed as he thought for a moment. "You mean like…?" he began, but again Koushiro interrupted him before he could finish.

"A magical staff?" He was already turning back to his book with a frown. "Something like that. Magical objects often bond to one particular user and are rather reluctant to be used by another." He shrugged.

"But I don't know how to use magic," Takeru pointed out. Feeling as though he'd been repeating himself rather often lately, he said, "I'm not a mage."

A strange, indescribable sort of sound seemed to come from the crystal, as though it was making its own voice be heard. Takeru stared at it for a long moment and then took another bite from the fruit. This crunch sounded louder than the previous ones.

"Maybe not," Koushiro answered from behind the thick volume. "Certainly you've never shown any magical prowess before now, or someone would have realized it. However, we cannot deny that you seem to be developing a certain amount of magical sense."

Takeru took another loud bite from the apple and chewed thoughtfully. He felt a strange urge to look toward the crystal and tried to fight it, mostly out of sheer stubbornness. He could hear a strange distant hum in the back of his ears, almost as though the object were calling him. He swallowed and took another bite, but the sensation didn't stop.

Koushiro set down his book with a quiet thump, drawing Takeru's gaze back toward the desk. "It could be an innate sense, it could be because of the crystal, it could be partly a result of becoming Chosen…."

Takeru had stopped listening to him. The wizard's voice had become a distant mumble, and the distant hum in his ears had become louder, so that it became almost impossible to hear anything else. Almost without being aware of what he was doing, he leaned forward in his seat. After a moment of hesitation he took the crystal in his hand and felt the world melt away around him.

* * *

They had finally left the desert behind. Some time around midday they'd reached the edge of the forest and the cool air had been welcomed as a much needed relief from the heat and endless sun. The air here was heavy with humidity, but the sky was clear, with only soft, puffy white clouds high in the sky, and there was no hint of rain.

Miyako placed one hand on the bark of the nearest tree and breathed in the clean, moist air. She shut her eyes for a minute, feeling the cool relief of the shade of the leaves for the first time in a few days. They'd stopped near the banks of a river with clear water that was flowing through the forest and caught a few of the colorful fish that were flowing beneath. The place seemed peaceful and serene, and there was no sound but chirping insects and bubbling waters as they sat in the cool grass and ate the fish they'd caught.

When they'd finished, Shijo gathered the bones and dumped them back in the water, the tiny splashes disappearing into the silence of the area. Distantly, a leaf crunched.

Miyako turned her head in the direction of the noise, but almost immediately another sound came from the opposite direction, and then another from a completely different location. She closed her eyes, focused her concentration, and cast out with her magical senses.

"Shijo," Daisuke said in a strange sort of voice, and the boy looked up from his task with a look of innocent confusion. Seeing the serious sort of expression that matched his tone, Shijo got to his feet took a few steps back from the water.

"Miyako?" Hawkmon questioned, glancing up at his partner, who was sitting completely still, eyes shut, face the picture of concentration.

She shook her head slowly. "A bunch," she said in answer to the unspoken question. "I can't give you a number yet…."

"Should we go?" Wormmon wondered, his big blue eyes darting quickly around the space for a few moments and then up at his partner. Ken shook his head, but didn't get up from his seat.

"No good," Daisuke murmured in a soft voice. "There all around."

Ken took a long gulp of water from a freshly filled canteen. "At least ten," Miyako said, not opening her eyes. "I sense _her_ magic, but not her…and not Mummymon, either."

"Doesn't mean they're not coming," V-mon mumbled crossly, clenching both his hands into fists. "I'm ready, right?" He glanced toward Wormmon, who nodded immediately and then glanced toward his partner with a questioning expression.

"Ten of _what_?" Shijo wondered, eyes wide, turning to his partner, who shrugged.

Behind them was the sound of a twig snapping, the crunch of leaves, and then the obvious sound of a dozen or so footsteps coming closer. "Twenty three," Ken said, setting down his canteen. Miyako opened her eyes.

"Every direction," she said, turning toward the stream. "Even that way."

"Twenty _four_," Ken said, correcting himself. He frowned, his mouth curving down even more severely.

Shijo turned sharply toward him, eyes growing even wider. He opened his mouth to ask his question again, but stopped. The footsteps sounded very close to him now. He took a step toward the fire, closer to the center of the clearing in which they'd stopped to eat. He glanced toward Daisuke, but he was focused on the line of trees. Again, the boy recalled his promise to get out of danger – but where was there to go if they were surrounded by twenty four…things?

There was a rustling in the brush nearby and the branches parted. A single Gazimon, flanked by a rather angry-looking Piyomon and a fierce Agumon, appeared in the clearing, a slight sneer on his face.

"What do you want?" V-mon demanded, taking a step forward. He raised one fist, indicating his lack of fear.

The Gazimon spread both arms wide and opened his paws, palms up, indicating lack of aggression. V-mon didn't change his position, and the furry rabbit-digimon shrugged lightly. "We don't have to fight," he remarked, his sneer fading into a gentle smirk.

"Don't we?" V-mon returned, narrowing his eyes. "Do you say that because you know you'd lose?"

"So why have you surrounded us, then?" Hawkmon questioned with much more civility. "If not to force us to fight you."

"We don't have to fight," Gazimon said again. "I was sent to talk."

V-mon almost growled. He'd clenched his teeth and his fists and he took another step forward.

"Sent, were you?" Hawkmon said in a calm-sounding voice. "I'm sure she's rather eager to discuss things."

"Talk then," V-mon said, his voice coming out as a snarl. "Say what you've come to say, and then I'll kick your…."

"We don't have to fight," Gazimon said, calmly ignoring the thinly veiled insults and threats. "All you need to do is hand over the crystal and I'll be on my way. You won't be troubled again…."

"Not happening," V-mon answered almost before the Gazimon had finished speaking. "We'll have to fight anyway."

The Gazimon shrugged, glancing toward the Piyomon and the Agumon that stood on either side of him. "So be it then," he said.

A dark aura appeared around him, so thick that it could be seen by those without magical vision. Miyako removed her spectacles, which she had been in the habit of wearing low on her nose, and put them in her pocket so she could see more clearly. The dark aura grew thicker and the Gazimon grew taller. Then, the aura spread so that it surrounded the Agumon and the Lopmon as well.

"They're not…," Hawkmon said, but let his words fade because they obviously _were_.

The rabbit-digimon's grin grew wider, his teeth grew longer, and then he was replaced completely by a fierce looking digimon with wild eyes and a long sword at his waist, which he removed with his heavy paws and sharp claws as he let out a roar.

"Leomon!" roared the creature that had once been a Gazimon. "Prepare to meet your defeat!" With a mighty roar, he lunged through the air toward V-mon, who leapt backwards even as a different sort of aura began to surround him.

"V-mon evolve!" he shouted, and as the light faded, he reached out with huge arms and claws to block the sword's attack. "XV-mon!"

Meanwhile, the Agumon had also grown larger, and flames began to leap from his body. When the dark aura had faded, he was no longer Agumon but a tall, fiery Meramon. He grinned with triumph and lifted one arm. "Burning fist!" he shouted, and lunged toward Hawkmon, who quickly took to the air in order to avoid the flames. Miyako dodged sideways, stepping away, and quickly raised a magical shield to protect herself from the heat.

The Piyomon, meanwhile, had been swallowed by the dark aura, which expanded as he grew in size. When the dark cloud had faded enough for him to be seen, he had become a large, thin serpent of an Airdramon. Immediately, he let out a loud screech of anger and flew toward the ground, mouth open wide, teeth bared.

Shijo stared with his eyes opened wide, suddenly finding his legs incapable of moving as the huge ferocious serpent came closer.

"Wormmon evolve!" he heard a voice shout from behind him, and then a white light momentarily blinded him. "Stingmon!" called a voice, and then a green blur slammed into the Airdramon. Someone grabbed Shijo around the waist and pulled him out of the way seconds before both of the fighting digimon crashed into the ground where he'd been standing.

"You really are going to get yourself killed, you know?" Ken said, glancing down at the boy he'd saved. Shijo glanced up toward him, eyes still huge in his small face, mouth hanging slightly open. His legs wobbled beneath him as though they were made of mud rather than bones.

"Wow," Agumon said in a soft voice, watching as the green bug digimon wrestled with the huge serpent on the ground. After a moment, the Airdramon screamed loudly and broke away from Stingmon, taking to the air. He swung around, his huge tail slamming into the smaller bug digimon and sending him flying across the clearing where he collided with a few trees, sending up a cloud of dust.

"Is he all right?" Shijo asked, staring at the cloud of dust. "He's not…."

"He'll be fine," Ken told him, and then could say no more because a ball of fire slammed into the dirt only a few steps away from him, the loud crash drowned out whatever else he was going to say. Over the flames, Shijo heard him shout, "Let's get you out of the way!"

"To where?" the boy shouted back, but didn't wait for an answer before he followed him. Glancing over his shoulder, he watched as XV-mon, having easily dodged the ball of fire, took to the air.

"X Laser!" he called, and a bright light slammed into the Meramon, who groaned in pain and was forced to take a few steps back. Without wasting time with words, the fiery digimon growled his frustration and hurled another fireball into the air. They missed XV-mon, who dodged easily in the air, but crashed into the trees beyond, setting the forest on fire.

Shijo had reached the edge of the clearing, the un-burnt forest behind him, but before he could take shelter within the trees, he saw that a few red eyes were peering at him from within the darkness. He took a step backwards, toward the center of the clearing, but a badly-aimed fireball whizzed past only a short distance from him, almost singeing the back of his shirt.

"Damn," muttered Ken, turning away from the trees.

* * *

I know you've been wanting action (I've been wanting action), so there's some action.

Bear with me through the slow parts (no matter how badly written they are, please), everything has a purpose. Or at least 99 percent of all things. Thanks for reading.


	15. Progress and Promises

**The Crystal Gate**

**Part Fifteen**: Progress and Promises

* * *

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:**_ Digimon_, including all characters, is not mine. I make no money from this. Plot, however, is mine. Mostly. Don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo.

* * *

"Miyako!" Hawkmon was calling to her, for she was still shielding herself behind her magic. Leomon, having abandoned his attack on XV-mon for one who was more land-bound and vulnerable, slammed his massive sword into the invisible wall again and again. So far, it had not cracked, but it would not hold forever, and it didn't seem as though the digimon was likely to tire any time soon. "The Digimental!"

"I can't!" Miyako gasped, for each time the sword slammed into the shield her magic grew a little weaker. "I can't do it and hold the shield at the same time and if I lower the shield…."

"You'll die!" Leomon finished, and roared his anger once more as he lowered his sword into the barrier once more. This time, a crack appeared in the shield, and although it was doubtful he could see it, the lion-digimon could obviously sense it, for a grin spread wide across his furry face and he slammed the point of his sword into the crack. Miyako gathered her magical energy, but Leomon was strong, and he used both his paws to push the wall open as though it were made of little more than paper.

"Now you die!" Leomon roared, and swung his sword again. Miyako, feeling weak from having her magic forced away, could barely move, could hardly see. There was that strange sensation in her chest again, and a ringing in her ears.

"Hawkmon evolve!" shouted the small bird digimon, and for a brief moment, all battle stopped and even Leomon paused in his attack, startled by the bright light.

"Aquilamon!" shouted the new digimon, a giant, powerful bird, and then, before Leomon could recover, shouted again. "Blast laser!"

A bright light slammed into the lion's chest, throwing him backward some distance so that he fell into the ground, sending up a cloud of dust. Miyako felt her vision clear as the dust dissipated. Leomon got to his feet, apparently uninjured, but now she could see that a strange black mark had appeared on his chest. No – not a black mark – it was as though the skin had flaked away and some inner core were revealed. Had she seen this before?

Leomon did not give her time to study his wound, however, for he leapt into the air and flung himself toward his new opponent, who easily dodged his attack, though he lost a few feathers from the blade of the sword. Miyako watched as her evolved partner took to the sky for an aerial attack, staring after them for a moment, still questioning what her magical senses were telling her, trying to work out the meaning of what she was feeling.

A loud explosion startled her as a ball of fire slammed into the ground nearby. She turned her head to see that Meramon had managed to set most of the surrounding trees aflame, and the fire was slowly spreading to the forest beyond. _'Maybe I should put out the fire,' _she thought absently, glancing toward the stream. Almost before she could finish the thought, however, she heard a cry of alarm, and saw that a crowd of Lopmon, each carrying a heavy stick, had emerged from the burning forest and surrounded Ken and the boy he had been trying to protect. Ken took up a long, stick of his own and waved it toward the Lopmon, who were mostly undeterred by this action.

Without bothering to waste time debating the issue, Miyako narrowed her eyes, focused her magic, and raised a shield around the two humans and the boy's partner Agumon, who appeared to be completely unaware of it. The Lopmon, too, seemed not to notice the barrier, for a moment later they rushed in to attack and all involved were completely astonished when their clubs and bodies bounced off of an invisible wall. After a moment of astonishment, Ken recovered and glanced toward her with a strange expression that she couldn't read the meaning of.

The Lopmon crowd took a few moments to recover from their wounds. Those who had not attacked and thus were not injured were joined by those who had been only mildly damaged and they resumed their circle, raising their clubs and glaring with their eyes.

This potentially eternal stalemate was broken by two things. The first was that Daisuke, who'd been relatively unharmed so far during the battle, had taken up a long stick of his own – one end of which had been set afire by the Meramon – and dived into battle swinging his makeshift weapon. The result of this was more effective than expected, for the Lopmon were taken off guard and he actually managed to throw a few of them into the forest beyond before he was overwhelmed by their sheer numbers. There were, Miyako realized when she quickly counted, twenty-one Lopmon, which matched Ken's initial count of twenty-four enemies altogether.

The second thing that broke the stalemate and also saved Daisuke from being engulfed in a sea of Lopmon was that another fireball slammed into the center of them all. Unfortunately for the Lopmon, this set a few of them on fire, and four of them deleted almost instantly. The rest scattered for a moment and then, when the flames had died down, they resumed their attack on Daisuke. In the interval, however, Miyako had expanded the shield so that now they couldn't attack him, either, however, and so they were further damaged when their bodies once again bounced off the invisible wall.

"Don't be stupid!" Daisuke shouted across the clearing to Miyako, who was visible through the flames, the crowd of Lopmon, and the occasionally interfering combatants who flew or ran or otherwise battled their way through the clearing. "You can't hold this forever!"

"You want me to let you die?" she shouted back. "Sorry, but I won't!"

"X-Laser!" shouted the voice of his partner, and a bright white light slammed into the already badly damaged Meramon. His skin, like that of Leomon, had flaked off in various parts, revealing large black holes in the center of his body. With a scream of anger and pain, the remainder of his skin fell off in pieces and disintegrated, and then the black center of it deleted.

"You…killed it?" Shijo questioned, eyes wide as he stared at the space where the Meramon had once been.

"Digimon don't die, they're deleted," Agumon corrected, but his eyes, too, revealed his shock and surprise. "Deleted and reformatted."

"Yeah," Ken said, not looking toward the boy or his partner, "but that was no ordinary digimon."

"X-Laser!" XV-mon shouted again, and a half-dozen or so of the Lopmon surrounding them deleted in the same way, their skin flaking off and falling to the ground before a dark inner core within deleted.

There was a loud crash nearby then as the Airdramon that Stingmon had been battling crashed into the ground, screeching its pain. For a moment the bug digimon hesitated, and then he attacked for the final time. "Spiking finish!" he called, and a long spike slammed into the center of the serpentine body before it, too, deleted in the same manner as the others.

* * *

The world around him had faded, and for a moment Takeru was left in the center of a dull black nothingness. He began to panic, his heart racing in his chest, and then he realized that the small crystal was still in his hand, and he looked down to find that he could see it, despite the darkness. It was emitting a quiet, dull glow.

A glint of light caught his eyes and he looked up to see that another crystal, exactly the same as the one he held in his hand, was hovering in the center of the darkness, and another was hovering a short distance away. The crystal in his hand was humming even louder than before now, and it seemed as though some outside force was pulling on it, trying to get it of his hand. Instinctively, Takeru tightened his grip and blinked. When he'd opened his eyes again, he saw that four crystals were now in front of him, hovering in midair, forming a circle. Sparks of power were flowing between them like tiny bolts of lightning, and a few of them were leaping into the crystal in his hand.

Briefly, he wondered if he should place the crystal in the center of the circle, but almost as soon as he had thought that, he pushed it from his mind. He remembered then what had happened in Motomiya, what the sorceress had said she wanted that crystal for – to release the vanquished. He didn't know what that meant, but something about that woman had made it seem to be a bad idea.

It was becoming increasingly more difficult to hold on to the crystal. Takeru tightened his grip on it, feeling the muscles in his hand moan in slight pain, still sore from the original wound that object had caused a few days before. He ignored the pain as best he could, feeling the cut reopen in his hand, and wrapped his other hand around the first. The tug became stronger, and he braced himself with both legs, feeling as though he were caught in a tug of war. Somewhere in the distance, he could hear someone calling his name, faintly.

"Takeru!"

The wizard's voice startled him into wakefulness as though he had been sleeping, but it had been no dream. Takeru looked up and saw that the blackness had disappeared, that he was now in the cluttered office in Hida, Koushiro staring down at him with a strange, confused expression. One arm was on each of Takeru's shoulders, for he had been shaking him awake. When he saw that Takeru had opened his eyes and come back to the world, he let go and stepped back.

"What was _that_?" said another voice from behind them. Iori had appeared in the doorway, his usually calm face twisted into an expression of confusion and concern. He was breathing heavily, as though he'd run clear across the mansion to get there.

"Did he fall asleep?" Tentomon wondered, hovering a short distance away. "That's what it looked like, like he fell asleep in the middle of Koushiro's sentence. Sometimes people fall asleep listening to him, but not usually in the middle of a word."

Koushiro sent a brief glare toward his partner, who seemed undeterred by this malice. "No," Takeru said before the wizard could offer either theory or threat. "No, it was no dream."

"What was it then?" Iori questioned, stepping into the room. "Some sort of magic, I'd guess, but why did _I_ feel something, too?"

"Well that's easy," Armadimon said confidently, having followed his partner. "Because you're connected, now."

"We're what?" his partner echoed.

"You felt something?" Takeru questioned. "What?"

Iori nodded, his face twisting into a more severe frown than before. "I was in the kitchens, mopping," he reported, "when I felt strange a cold that seemed to come from nowhere. A few of the others said that I looked strange for a moment, and didn't respond to what they were saying, and then it passed and so I came here."

"Did you feel anything?" Tentomon questioned of Armadimon, who shook his head and shrugged.

"A brief cold," Koushiro said in answer, his eyes taking on a thoughtful, faraway look. "I wonder…."

"That sorceress," Takeru mumbled, and shook his head to clear his mind. "I think I ought to get back to the palace." He glanced down at the crystal in his hand and saw that fresh blood was now smeared on the surface of the object. If he'd hoped it would give him some sort of answer, however, he was disappointed, for the crystal had fallen silent once again and was now stubbornly behaving like an ordinary rock.

"No," Koushiro disagreed, his eyes still suggesting that his mind was a great distance away. "I think we _all_ should return."

* * *

The clearing in the forest was quickly becoming home to a larger fire than before, because the fire had engulfed the surrounding trees. The flames were on the opposite edge of the stream, too, so that the best means of escape would be on the river.

All the attackers had been deleted. Arachnemon had not appeared, and her magic had faded. Aquilamon de-evolved all the way back to Poromon, a tiny pink blob of a digimon. Feeling as relieved and thankful as she ever had, Miyako sank down on to her knees and took her partner in her arms.

A cold breeze darted through the clearing, making the flames dance, causing everyone to shiver briefly. Daisuke threw aside the burning stick he had been carrying and glanced toward the water with they eyes of one who will do what must be done because there's nothing else that can be done, even if it is not what one would like to do.

"We can't leave the forest to burn down," Miyako said then. She'd gotten to her feet and moved a few steps closer to the water, away from the flames which were slowly encroaching.

"You can stop it?" Ken asked, one eyebrow raised.

"And if you exhaust yourself doing it?" Daisuke wondered absently, still watching the stream with an expression of great reluctance.

"Well then, leave me here to burn," Miyako returned. She'd already shut her eyes in an expression of concentration. The wind was gathering speed, the flames dancing with great speed.

"_Will_ she exhaust herself?" Ken asked, glancing toward Daisuke with an expression of mild alarm. The wind was whipping quickly through the clearing now and whatever it was Daisuke said in response could not be heard over the sound of the gusts. Shijo threw his arms over his head to shield his eyes from the dirt and embers in the air. Squinting between his arms, he saw that the wind was causing the water in the stream to rise up into the air.

"Look!" he shouted, loud enough to be heard over the wind.

The wind had been directed above the water, spinning in two miniature whirlwinds which gathered the water within them and lifted it into the air. Already, drops of water were spraying from the tiny tornados, splashing on to the flames nearby. A strong gust of wind flew through the clearing, sending dirt and dust on to the flames, dousing some of them and seriously damaging the rest. Another burst of wind and the spots of water became larger, so that large amounts of water was spraying about and soaking the area nearby, drenching those who stood nearby.

When the magic had faded a short while later, everything and everyone within the clearing was soaked through. Drops of water dripped from the leaves, falling to the ground with quiet plops that sounded like raindrops. Feeling less exhausted than Daisuke had predicted but tired nonetheless, Miyako fell down to her knees again, Poromon still in her arms, splashing in a shallow puddle that had formed at her feet.

"Wow," Shijo said in a low whisper. His hair had fallen, limp and wet, in his eyes. A cool breeze made him shiver. "Amazing."

Daisuke looked again toward the stream, now calm, and sighed.

* * *

Large puffy clouds changed from white to orange and then deep shades of pink and purple as the sun sank below the horizon. The sky, too, had faded from bright, pale blue to a darker shade and then to a deep violet. Cool breezes danced over the land, rustling the leaves of the trees and making the waves of grass dance to unheard music.

Inside the palace walls, the light was steadily fading, and the lamps were being lit. Feeling for various reasons the desire for solitude, Taichi managed to excuse himself from a sociable dinner by claiming to have a headache. He then managed to excuse himself from any unnecessary medicating by casting a rather fierce glare in the direction of any doctor who suggested otherwise. Jyou had wisely and immediately understood the meaning of these glares and suggested diplomatically to the other doctors that all that would be needed would be a bit of rest and quiet.

Truth was, however, he was not in the mood for sleep or rest anymore than he was in the mood for a large gathering of people that were certain to be present for the evening meal. He paced absently about his room (uneager to risk venturing even into the hallways for fear of being sent back to bed or forced to engage in conversation) for some time before wandering out to the balcony. He felt restless, probably, he reluctantly admitted to himself, because of Sora.

Yamato would have said that he was brooding, but Yamato was either fighting a battle with paperwork or enduring the niceties of formal conversation at the table, and so Taichi felt no guilt about standing on the balcony and watching the sunset without seeing it. He was actually beginning to feel a bit of a pain behind his eyes.

There was a faint tap on the door behind him, and he hoped no one had come to check on his claim of a headache. For a moment, his mind raced, but then the door opened slowly, and he realized there was no time to quickly leap into bed and pull the covers up to his chin and pretend he was trying to sleep. It was too warm to be covered in blankets, and he had not yet removed his shoes.

"So, you're not really sick?" Sora questioned, having stepped only half a step into the room. She was smiling faintly, as though she understood his deception and was perhaps planning to blackmail him in some way. "Or are you busy with something you don't wish disturbed?"

So startled was he, first by the presence of another human being in the room and secondly by her words, that he said nothing for a moment, and simply stared at her with his mouth hanging open, feeling stupid. Sora was studying the floor at her shoes for a long time, and then, aware that he'd said nothing, looked toward him curiously.

Distantly, an insect chirped, and Taichi shook his head, slowly coming to his senses. He took a step forward, away from the window, and found his voice with the movement. "No…not busy," he said. Almost as soon as the words had come out he became aware that he'd been staring, and he looked away, feeling suddenly uncharacteristically sheepish and shy.

There was a gentle click as Sora shut the door behind her and he heard the soft whisper of her shoes on the thick, warm carpet. "I don't want to bother you...," she said. "Maybe I should…."

"No," he interrupted, before she could open the door and leave. "You're not a bother, Sora. Never a bother."

A brief silence passed, broken by the insects chirping outside the window. A cool breeze caused the thin drapes to dance on their rods. Neither of them moved.

"I've been thinking," she said, her voice quiet, as though she were afraid to break the silence that was the night, "about what you said before."

Taichi stuffed his hands in his pockets and threw a quick glance in her direction before he returned his attention to his shoes. "O-oh?" he managed to say, trying and failing to sound or appear casual when his heart felt as though it were pounding in his ears, interfering with his thoughts. His mind had become a complete blank.

"I've been thinking a lot," Sora said, and again he could make out the sound of her shoes on the carpet, of her skirts swishing as she walked.

"Have you?" he asked, glancing up again, and saw that she was standing much closer than he'd expected. For a moment, the pounding in his head stopped altogether, and he wondered if his heart had stopped beating completely or if he'd simply gone deaf. "Have you come to any…?"

"Yes," she answered before he could finish asking. "If I'm still the one you want, then yes."

Her eyes seemed larger than they had before, or perhaps it was only because they were opened wide and so much closer than they had ever been. Taichi vaguely wondered if he had died, because his body didn't seem to be responding to anything he was trying to tell it to do. Or perhaps it was only that he couldn't think of anything to tell it to do. He found that he was moving, but he wasn't quite aware of why or how.

"Am I?" Sora questioned, and he realized that he had taken her hands in his – or maybe she had taken his, he couldn't be sure.

"Yes," he answered immediately, his voice sounding hoarse and distant. "Yes," he said again, with more volume than before. "Did you think I would…?"

"Maybe," she said, glancing away sheepishly. "I daresay I don't claim to know what's in your heart…."

"You are," he insisted. His hands had consented to be controlled once more, and he squeezed hers to make his point.

* * *

I will say it before anyone says it for me. I don't write romance for a reason, the reason being that I'm horrible at it. That said, the Taichi-Sora soap opera has to be put in here because it's a necessary part of the story, believe it or not. Everything has a reason. To balance it, a bit of action. Hope it wasn't too painful for you.

Thanks for reading.


	16. Fly!

**The Crystal Gate**

**Part Sixteen:** Fly!

* * *

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:**_ Digimon_, all characters and whatnot, is not mine. Plot is mine. Don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo.

* * *

The battle in the woods had delayed the travelers quite a bit, and so they were not nearly as far along on their journey as they had hoped to be by the time night fell. They stopped on the road only two hours from the place where the battle had been. The sun was setting, the air slowly growing cooler, and their legs growing so weary that there was little choice but to stop.

They had followed the stream north and west until they reached the small pond into which it flowed. Miyako, easily the most tired of them all, set the bag she had carried on the ground with a decisive thump. Shijo, following her lead, set down his own pack and began immediately to examine the food rations he carried. They'd taken some fish with them that they'd caught previously, and there was enough of those to eat for dinner, tiresome though they might be. Ken knelt by the stream and took a few gulps of water with his hand before refilling his canteen with the clear, cool liquid. Only Daisuke did not seem eager to stop. He took a few steps further along the path before finally stopping and glancing back at the others with an expression of disappointment.

"We can't travel all night and day," Miyako said in answer to his frown, and sat down in the grass beside her bag. She'd long since bothered to be greatly concerned about things like cleanliness – her dress had become tattered and tired from battles and desert crossings – but she still sighed at the sight of herself.

Shijo set about preparing the fish for the meal, washing them a bit in the stream and then skewering them on long, pointed sticks. Having refilled his canteen, Ken began to gather twigs and sticks for firewood. A few tall trees surrounded the pond, and kindling was not hard to come by. After some time, Daisuke declined to argue, and so sat down in the grass beside his partner, who had been lying lazily beside the pond for some time now.

The air was damp and humid, warning of approaching rain. The skies were clouded, but not completely overcast, and no drops yet fell. "It's a bad sign," Daisuke mumbled, looking up at the sky.

"It's probably the same storm that Koushiro said was in Hida," Miyako answered with a shrug. She shut her eyes, feeling tired. "Storms do travel, you know, sometimes in odd ways."

For a few moments, there was no noise but the leaves rustling in the wind as a cool breeze blew past, smelling of rain. "Since when do you worry about signs?" she wondered.

He shrugged absently. Miyako opened one eye and squinted at him through the haze of her magical vision, wondering how much of his memories had returned and how much he was still missing. Certainly the spell was still present, for she could still see it, though not as powerful as it had once been. Perhaps being apart from Hikari had done this, or was it simply the natural course of things for the magic to lose its potency?

Anything else she might have thought to ask was interrupted when Ken unexpectedly dropped his armful of twigs on the ground, startling her out of her daze. He began to rearrange them into a suitable pile for starting a fire, and Miyako watched him for a few moments, a completely different set of questions beginning to form in her mind.

The evening was not particularly warm, but the air was dense and humid, and when he had finished his task, Ken paused to take another gulp of water from his canteen, a bit of sweat beginning to appear on his forehead, and then turned back to the pile.

It burst into flames before he could even begin any attempts to light it, startling Shijo from his work on the fish and even managing to momentarily jolt Daisuke from wherever his mind had been wandering. V-mon, who had been watching the others through partly closed eyes, was unaffected, and Wormmon showed no sign of alarm. Poromon continued sleeping as he had been doing for some time now, and Agumon frowned, for he had been pleased with taking the task of lighting the fire to prove his usefulness. Ken, however glanced toward her with the same strange expression that he had used when she had raised a shield to protect him.

"What happened to being tired?" Daisuke questioned crossly – he was still in a bad mood about having to stop – frowning in her direction. Miyako chose to ignore him and did not glance in his direction as she removed her own magic from the flames of the fire and let it burn on its own, consuming the wood.

"Won't be long now before we eat," Shijo said cheerfully, oblivious to or perhaps choosing to ignore the tension in the air. Having finished skewering the fish, he plunged the sticks into the fire so they could cook. Almost immediately, the scent of roasting meat began to fill the air.

There was silence for a long time as they waited for the meat to cook. V-mon, still appearing to be only half awake, idly watched some fish swimming in the pond below. Wormmon, too, seemed only partly awake, and Poromon dozed in his partner's lap. Shijo kept close eye on the fish, partly to assure that they cooked well and partly to assure that his partner did not eat them all. Daisuke, still with an intent frown on his face, was watching the darkening skies.

Miyako watched him for a few moments, wondering precisely what it was about him that managed to infuriate her so easily, and what it was about herself that could easily infuriate him. Thinking in such a manner made her tired, though, and thinking further on Ken made her even more exhausted, so she gave up on thinking about either of them and shut her eyes, choosing to meditate instead.

* * *

Hikari had spent much of the past few days immersed in books. The wizards and mages of the palace (especially Koushiro) had more books than could be counted, and no one knew everything that was written in all of them. She had brought a few books of magic home with her from the Sanctuary Island, but she knew that the answers she was looking for were not in those books. It was unlikely they were in any of the books of the palace, either, but it would do no harm to try.

There were easily a dozen rooms in the palace filled entirely with books, libraries with tall bookshelves stretching to high ceilings so that ladders were required to reach the farthest shelves and a fear of heights was a great liability. Some of these were filled with histories and manuals on a great number of things having nothing to do with magic. No less than twenty books (at the least) were dedicated to the genealogy of the royal family, and another two or three dozen chronicled the families of the other lords in the kingdom. The books Hikari sought, however, were magical.

As slavery of any sort had been banned in Yagami at least three hundred years before and dark magic had never been favored within the borders, finding a book on how to create or destroy such a spell would likely be virtually impossible. There were, so far as was known, no dark wizards in Yagami and there had not been for a hundred years. Someone, however, had come to Yagami and performed dark magic, however, so somewhere in the world dark mages still practiced. Willing though she was to find a way to break the spell, however, Hikari was not quite willing to seek out a dark mage for his advice.

"If there's no other way, though," she thought aloud, and her voice echoed off the high ceilings, startling her.

It was early morning, so that the mages in the palace were all likely still sleeping. Hikari had selected a number of books and taken her pile to a distant corner of the library, hoping that she would neither disturb nor be disturbed by any students who came there to study. She'd been working for several days now, and the effort was tiring, her lack of results upsetting.

"No other way?" Tailmon questioned sleepily, looking up from where she'd been napping atop a tall pile of books.

"I was thinking," she answered, "that if what he said is true – that the counter spell is truly lost for all time – and I cannot create one of my own strong enough to break it…."

"You did well enough," the feline digimon returned. "Better than they'd thought possible."

"Yes, but the spell is still there," Hikari disagreed, shaking her head, "and so long as it is there, I am concerned."

Tailmon studied her partner with a questioning expression for a moment. "Xiao," she said then, and Hikari shivered.

"If there is him, there are others," she answered, frowning. "I don't think that we have seen the last of him. Even the mention of his name troubles me. So long as the spell is there…."

"There is a risk that someone else may activate it," Tailmon finished. Again, Hikari shivered.

"If I cannot find a counter spell or create one, perhaps it would be best to seek out someone who could."

"You want to ask a dark mage to help you?" her partner questioned, eyes wide. "For what reason do you suppose they would?"

"I don't know," she confessed, "but if there is no other way…."

Tailmon shook her head, her disapproval obvious, "I would not advise it," she said ominously. "I don't suppose Daisuke would, either."

"No," Hikari admitted, sighing. "Probably not."

"And where would you search for a dark mage, anyway?"

"That I cannot begin to answer," she replied. "I am certain, however, that it might be easier than finding a spell." She turned a page in the book before her and saw a spell that would help flowers to bloom brighter and bigger than before.

"Certainly it is not in amidst gardening spells," Tailmon remarked with an ironic smile.

"Doubtful," Hikari agreed, turning the pages for a few moments before she shut the book in defeat. "I can't give up, though. I have this feeling – this terribly bad feeling – that spell might be his downfall."

"Downfall?" Tailmon echoed, noting the serious tone in her partner's voice. "Was it not already his downfall – making him forget?"

"Yes," she answered, "but I think it will come to worse than that if I cannot break it."

* * *

There was thunder rumbling when the sun rose, but the rain was far off and the sun was visible through the mist of the mountains. Koushiro was frowning at the sky when Takeru emerged from the mansion, sleepily rubbing his eyes at the early hour.

"Still wise to fly?" he questioned the wizard, noting the thunder to the north. "It seems a storm is building in the mountains."

"It would take two or three days if we walked or took a carriage," Koushiro answered, still glaring at the clouds above the mountain. "Flying will be much faster."

"Yes, if we're not hit by lightning," Patamon remarked from his partner's head where he was perched.

"In which case it might be a faster way to death and the ground below," Tentomon agreed.

Takeru yawned. The previous night he had not slept well, continuously coming awake and pulling a blanket over him in a futile attempt to ward off cold that was not in the air. "Don't say that," he scolded when he could speak again. "I'd rather not think about it."

"Think about what?" Iori questioned from behind him. He was dressed in suitable clothing for traveling by air – a thin jacket thrown over his clothing and a hat atop his head, pulled low to cover his ears. Over one shoulder he carried a drawstring bag stuffed with a few necessities. In answer to his question, thunder rumbled distantly, and Iori glanced toward Li Tan, the Airdramon tamer, who was at that moment stepping outside behind him. "Is it wise to fly in this weather?"

The tamer shrugged lightly. "I've flown in blizzards and thunderstorms and windstorms of all sorts," he answered, "I'm not a bit afraid of a bit of thunder or rain if you're not."

"Not the thunder or rain so much as the lightning," Takeru said, eyes on the sky. So far there had been no sign of any such thing, but where there was thunder there was likely to be lightning.

Li Tan was quiet for a moment, frowning at the sky, and then he shrugged again, apparently unconcerned. "It's not ideal, truly," he admitted, "and yet it's not so bad as it might be. If you don't want to fly, we could wait, but I believe the sky will clear south of here. That storm is likely over the mountains, and we'll fly south faster than it will travel."

"Unless it _is_ a magical storm," Koushiro said. After a moment of silence, in which all looked to him for the answer, he sighed heavily, shaking his head. "I sense no great concentration of magic," he admitted, "and yet, as I said, I know very little of weather magic."

"I say we go," Iori spoke up. "If we must, we'll stop and wait out the storm as long as necessary, or proceed on foot."

Takeru grinned. "Well said, Lord Hida," he said, patting him on the shoulder. "Let's fly."

* * *

Miyako awoke before the sun had risen, jolted from sleep by the same strange dream of red, flashing lights that had been bothering her since the crystal had been stolen. She sat up sharply, shivering despite the warm night air. Overhead, the moon was but a slim crescent, yet it was bright enough that she could see the other three and their partners nearby, still sleeping. Hawkmon, too, was faintly visible a short distance away.

Though she laid back down and shut her eyes, Miyako knew that it was not likely that she would fall asleep again. Her heart was pounding rapidly in her chest, and the dream had greatly disturbed her. She'd not been awakened by nightmares since she was but a child, and she had never had a dream reoccur like this one before.

A dark cloud passed over the moon making it seem even darker than before. Rolling on to her side, Miyako tried again to shut her eyes and sleep, but it was useless, for she saw the flash of red light that jolted her back to wakefulness right as she began to feel as though she might return to sleep.

After a half-hour or so, she gave up and sat up again. Moving quietly so as not to disturb the others (who were all blissfully slumbering away), she pushed aside the cloak she'd used as a blanket and made her way barefoot to the nearby pond. Shijo mumbled quietly in his sleep and rolled over, but none of the others stirred in the slightest.

The air smelled damp, hinting, as the dark cloud had, of approaching rain. Miyako sat on the edge of the pond and dipped her bare toes in the water, feeling some of the traveling grime mercifully wash away from her feet. For a moment, she forgot about the disturbance of the dream and lay back in the cool grass, feeling as though she might soon reach sleep once more.

Thunder rumbled in the distance, jolting her awake once more. Miyako pulled her feet from the water and hurried to put her shoes on again. She waited for what felt like a near eternity, but there was no lightning, and the thunder seemed far off. Then it sounded again, this time louder, and she shivered, pulling her cloak around her even though it was not particularly cold.

"A storm is coming?" said a sleepy-sounding voice, and she turned to see that Ken was slowly sitting up, rubbing his eyes. "That will make travel fun."

Miyako shivered again, shaking her head. "I don't want to be out here when the lightning comes," she said with a frown. "I'm not very fond of thunderstorms."

"It's not likely you'll be hit," he answered, and in the dim though increasing light she saw that he was pulling on his shoes. Another, even louder clap of thunder sounded, this time jolting Shijo awake. The boy was not particularly happy about the idea of waking however, and so he pulled his own cloak over his head and lay back down, mumbling to himself.

"Still, I don't like it. I'd like…."

"You'd like…?" Ken asked when a few moments had passed and she had not finished the sentence. Having finished with the task of tying his shoes, he turned toward her with a questioning expression. "Something wrong?"

"I don't like this," Miyako said again, shaking her head. She backed away from the water and looked around her as though expecting something to leap from the shadows.

Another clap of thunder sounded, and now Shijo sat up reluctantly, a frown on his face. "The sun isn't even up yet," he complained.

"Actually, I think it might be," Agumon disagreed, "It's too cloudy to be seen."

Daisuke had not yet woken, but he rolled over in his sleep, a strangely intense frown on his face as though he was displeased with something. V-mon, a short distance away, was lying on his back, mouth opened wide, snoring quietly.

"We're not far from the palace, right?" Shijo questioned, glancing toward the others with a hopeful expression. "Maybe if we leave soon we might get there before the rain is too heavy."

Another loud clap of thunder sounded. "I doubt that," Agumon stated glumly, looking toward the sky.

"Something feels bad," Miyako said in a quiet voice, and shut her eyes. The moment she did so, however, the same flash of red light from her dream reappeared, distracting her. "Very bad," she amended, shivering.

A drop of rain fell into the pond nearby, a quiet drop that echoed in the silence for a short while. A half-second later, Daisuke sat up, suddenly awake where he had been sound asleep a moment before, drawing the attention of the others. V-mon moaned a complaint and sat up, rubbing his eyes, but his partner seemed to have no sleepiness.

Another clap of thunder sounded before anything could be said, and then Daisuke was on his feet before the rumblings had faded. "Damn," he mumbled, paying no attention to the others as he gathered his cloak in his arms and threw it over his shoulders, then sat down on the grass once more to pull on his shoes.

"No matter how fast you run, you won't make it there before the rain starts," Hawkmon intoned wisely, having recently awakened as well.

Daisuke paused long enough in his task to frown in the bird digimon's general direction, and then shook his head. "It's not the rain I'm worried about."

"What then?" Miyako demanded, and he shook his head again.

"I don't know. All I _do_ know is that I've already wasted enough time as it is." He got to his feet once more, frowning even more severely than before. "I never should have left."

"You never should have stayed," Ken disagreed.

"Are we leaving now?" Shijo questioned, hurrying to put on his shoes and gather anything else he would need to carry. "We haven't eaten…."

V-mon yawned loudly, rubbing both his eyes with his hands. Daisuke seemed to have no time even to wait for his partner to wake up, however, for he had picked him up and taken a few steps forward even before V-mon finished yawning.

"Daisuke, wait," Miyako called, but he didn't.

"Do you have any idea what you're heading in to?" Ken asked, and this did make him stop. Slowly, he turned around, a questioning expression now intermingled with his impatience.

Ken sighed heavily before he spoke again, folding his arms in front of him as he did so. "If the storm in Hida was magically created, perhaps this one is, too."

"So?"

"Who do we know who might want to create a magical storm?" he asked, opening one eye.

"Arachnemon?" Miyako asked. "Has she that sort of power? This is a big," she paused as another clap of thunder sounded loudly, interrupting her, "_very _big storm."

"Maybe not," he answered, turning that eye from Daisuke now toward her. "I can think of something that might, however. Some magical object, very powerful, that she's come into possession of."

"The crystal," she concluded, frowning now, clenching one fist in anger partly at fate and partly at herself.

"All the more reason I should hurry back," Daisuke stated, turning once more to leave.

"Yes," Miyako said, getting to her feet. "All the more reason you should wait for the rest of us. If she wants that crystal," she gestured vaguely towards him, for he carried it, "she'll have to wait for you to bring it."

"And what do you suppose she'll do in the meantime?" he demanded. "Sit and wait for it?"

* * *

Readers who do not look ahead to the future may wish to ignore the implications foreshadowed in that section with Hikari. It's relevant to this part of the story, but much more relevant to someplace that I want to go in the future. I am not yet sure if I'll ever _actually_ get to that place, but I'd really like to.

That said, I hope to have this installment finished in under 20 chapters. Not certain yet if I will actually meet that goal. Thanks for reading!


	17. Hajimaru

**The Crystal Gate**

**Part Seventeen: **_Hajimaru - _ It Begins -

* * *

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:** _Digimon_, all related characters, etc, are not mine. Plot _is_. Don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo. 

Moo.

* * *

As Li Tan had predicted, the storm did not follow them southward, but it was not long before the small group of flying digimon was in the midst of another. Rain began to fall heavily, and thunder sounded dangerously close. Though the tamer thought to coax his Airdramon above the clouds, each time he tried to do so a flash of lightning prevented his attempt. Iori was perched behind him, remembering with each passing moment why he much preferred to travel by land. 

"It's insane!" Li Tan called over the sound of the rain and the wind. "Almost as though it's alive! If I didn't know better, I'd say the lightning was trying to hit us!"

Thankfully, the tamer and his mount were much experienced with flying through dangerous storms. Li Tan was able to guide them around the flashes of lightning, and the Airdramon was both swift and agile enough to respond quickly to commands. Iori, who could barely see through the rain and fog, hoped that Koushiro and Takeru were fairing as well.

"It might be," Iori shouted to be heard, "if it really _is_ a magical storm."

In truth, Takeru was only a short distance behind Iori, but he could not tell that with his eyes, for the storm had rendered his vision almost completely useless. He was relying almost completely upon his partner, who thankfully was doing a fair job of navigating through winds and lightning flashes. He thought briefly of landing, but pushed the thought from his mind, hoping that they would soon be out of the storm.

The crystal in his pocket was making that strange sort of humming noise again. Despite the pounding of the rain, the crashing of thunder, and the winds rushing in his ears, Takeru heard it as clearly as he had in the mansion of Hida, in Koushiro's cluttered, borrowed office. He released his hold on his partner's neck with one hand long enough to reach for the object in his pocket. It was no easy task, for almost as soon as he had done so Pegasmon was obliged to dodge a very near lightning bolt, and Takeru was very nearly thrown off. As he had once before fallen from midair and not enjoyed it, Takeru quickly grabbed on with his free hand and waited a few moments before he tried again.

The strange humming sound was growing louder, so loud that it was nearly impossible to hear the storm, and Takeru wondered if he was going mad for thinking that the sound was in his head and not outside. Certainly hearing voices was a sign of that; would not hearing noises emanating from magical rocks be enough evidence? With great difficulty, he put these thoughts from his mind and tried again to reach the crystal in his pocket.

This time, a great gust of wind nearly toppled them both and sent them careening toward the ground. Takeru reached out with his free hand and was unable to resume his secure hold on his partner. For a moment, all thoughts left his mind and panic set in, but then even these were drowned out by the low humming of the crystal, which really was beginning to drive him crazy. Desperate for it to stop, for his head was starting to hurt, Takeru thrust his hand into his pocket and felt his fingers touch the sharp edge of the smooth, warm rock.

Immediately, the noise stopped, and then Takeru could see nothing but a white light and the distant form of his partner, growing more distant as he fell, his other hand finally having lost its grip. His mind, still in the throes of panic, thought nothing, and he was only dimly aware of the sensation of falling. Then, briefly, he thought of crying out for help, but he didn't know if anyone was near enough to get to him, or had even seen him fall. He mentally cursed the crystal and his need to silence it, and then glanced downward – or perhaps upward, it was hard to tell when falling, and saw that the crystal was glowing a pale white light.

"You're so powerful, save me!" he shouted at the rock, rather angered with it. "This is your fault!"

The white light grew brighter, and then he was no longer falling. The light had somehow made some sort of solid something beneath his feet, and though there was no sudden jolt that usually follows a fall, he was no longer moving. He held up the crystal and saw that it was still emanating a soft white light. It was humming again, but a rather different sort of hum than before. Before, the hum had been a persistent annoyance, the voice of a whining child. Now, however, it was an almost pleasant sound.

The thunder crashed even louder than before, and a few bursts of lightning flashed in the air dangerously close to where Takeru stood in midair.

"This _is_ a magical storm," he realized, taking a step back. "It's after _me.._.after this crystal."

"Takeru!" came the voice of his partner, and Takeru saw that Pegasmon had devolved and was now Patamon. He was flying, easily dodging the lightning thanks to his small size, with great speed, an expression of great anguish on his face, and then he crashed into Takeru at the same speed, causing him to take a few more steps back. He hoped he was not reaching the edge of whatever it was that held him in midair. The crystal was humming pleasantly though, leading him to believe there was to be no danger.

"I'm all right," he told his partner, who was obviously in a state of great distress. Before any more could be said, however, several loud crashes of thunder sounded at once, and then a flash of lightning lit up the sky.

"Not for much longer if we don't get out of this storm!" Patamon shouted over the sound of the thunder.

"I don't think it's going to be possible," Takeru told him. "I think it's after me – after the crystal."

"You think that sorceress conjured this storm to come after us?"

Another flash of lightning broke through the air not far away, and instinctively (even knowing that it would do no good) Takeru raised both arms to shield both his face and his partner. The crystal, which had been humming pleasantly, changed tones once more.

A bolt of lightning slammed into him, and Takeru was thrown backward some distance, miraculously not falling from the sky to the ground far below. He was not quite certain of what had happened or how, only of a strange sort of pain in his right arm. He forced his eyes open and saw that again the crystal was emitting a white light, forming a small barrier shield as it had done in Takaishi.

"Amazing," Patamon breathed, astonished enough by this feat to put off concern for his partner's well being, at least for a brief moment. "That's it!" he said encouragingly. "I knew you could do it!"

"Do what?" Takeru demanded. "I'm not doing anything! It's the crystal!"

* * *

The storm had begun almost as soon as the sun had risen, and even now the wind and rain battered the windows and walls. Hikari awoke before the sun rose, to see the beginning of the storm in the pre-dawn light. She rose from bed with more ease than usual, despite the late night before. Though she had not dreamt, and her mind was clear, a strange something was itching at the back of her mind, demanding to be listened to. 

Tailmon showed no sign of being awake or being near to awake until her partner opened wide the window-doors leading to the veranda outside her room. A cool breeze rushed in, sending the curtains flying, twisting Hikari's nightgown and scattering a few ribbons and papers that had the misfortune of not being bolted down. Shivering, the feline digimon felt a few drops of moisture land on her fur and awoke instantly, her big blue eyes still hazy with sleep.

"Close the window," she mumbled grumpily, turning around and burying deeper in the blankets of the bed. "It's going to rain."

"It _is_ raining," Hikari answered, stepping over the threshold with less concern than her partner for the weather. "Storm clouds, gathering in the west, in the east…in the north and the south. A four-sided attack."

"Attack?" Tailmon returned sleepily. "It's only a storm. Shut the window!"

"A storm that forms in four places at once? No, it's more than a storm," Hikari replied, shaking her head. She stepped further out on to the veranda, the cool stone damp beneath her still-bare feet. A strong, cold breeze blew the rain in her face, scattering flower-petals from the gardens below and green leaves from the trees. "What is it I'm forgetting?" she asked anything that might be listening.

Another gust of wind whipped her hair into her eyes and refused to answer her question. A clap of thunder sounded in the distant sky. To the east, where the sun should have been rising, the sky looked pale yellow, and to the west, dark as night. Directly overhead, a few stars could be seen, slowly dying in the morning, but most of the sky was filling with clouds.

It _was_ cold, and raining. Without having found any answers, Hikari sighed and returned inside, shutting the door behind her. Tailmon was sitting up now, rubbing her eyes and yawning. "On a day like this," she complained, still grumpy, "you might have let me sleep in."

"I didn't wake you," Hikari answered absently, already beginning to dress.

Tailmon yawned widely, interrupting what might have otherwise been a rather unpleasant retort. Tired as she was, however, by the time she'd finished yawning she'd forgotten it. She filled the next few moments of her time waiting for her partner to finish dressing by smoothing the fur on her head and yawning a few more times. Then, she climbed down from the bed and wandered over to the window to inspect the day for herself.

"Nasty weather," she commented, making a face of disgust that the glass in the window reflected back at her. "I suppose you're going to tell me this is some sort of sign?"

Hikari had finished with all but her feet, which were still bare. She was rummaging through drawers, seeking a pair of stockings which were not so thick as to be winter wear but not so thin as to be summer. "I don't know," she admitted, her voice sounding tense. Tailmon turned her way and wondered if she was frustrated in her hunt for footwear or frustrated by her lack of knowledge.

"Maybe you need to concentrate," the feline digimon commented, glancing back at the window.

"I've been _trying_ to," Hikari answered, finally locating a pair of stockings that would be suitable and yanking them forcefully from the drawer that held them. "I haven't been able to come up with anything useful, so I gave up. All the more, though, I've been thinking I'm wrong." She sat down in a stiff-backed chair and frowned thoughtfully for a moment.

"Sometimes, maybe, you should pay attention to other things," Tailmon commented cryptically. Her partner sighed heavily, pulling on her stockings.

"I'm beginning to think you're right," she admitted. "It's no good, though. No matter what I do, I can't force visions – they come of their own will. The only time I was ever able to _make_ myself see…."

Her voice had faded off in the middle of the sentence, and Tailmon glanced back to see that Hikari had paused in the middle of pulling on one stocking. Her right leg was bent so her foot was resting on the chair she sat on, and she had pulled the stocking almost all the way to her knees, and yet seemed to have suddenly lost interest in finishing her task.

* * *

The storm had only grown in intensity as the day wore on, so that by mid-afternoon it was nearly impossible to see or hear anything over the sound of the rain pounding on the ground. It had begun to rain at almost precisely the same time as they had finished a hurried breakfast and taken the first steps on their journey. 

It was nearly impossible to tell the time with the lack of sun, but it felt to Miyako as though they'd been walking for days. The rain was pouring so heavily that the dryness of the desert, once an unwanted burden, now seemed a paradise in comparison. Every few steps a flash of lightning or a crack of thunder split the sky open and made her pause, wondering if the end would be near. Miyako had no doubt now that Arachnemon was causing the storm, though she could not precisely determine why. The feel of her magic was all around now, in the very air.

The only one who seemed mostly unaffected by the continuous pouring rain was Daisuke. When the lightning illuminated the darkness for a few brief seconds every so often, she caught glimpses of the others pausing or halting instinctively, glancing up at the sky with apprehension. Only Daisuke, every time she could see him, paid no attention to the world around him and simply plodded on, his feet splashing through puddles of mud that were nearly to his knees.

Trying to stay dry was futile and cleanliness had all but disappeared after a few days of travel on foot (intermingled with a few vicious battles), but Miyako's worst problem was that her skirts, heavy with the rainwater, slowed her down and made her feel all the more tired. Arguing with Daisuke, pleading for a brief bit of rest, would be as futile an effort as trying to ring some of the water from her skirts, and so she didn't bother, but trudged on slowly, fighting to keep up.

"First no rain for days, and then two weeks' worth in an hour," Agumon complained loudly over the constant sound of rainfall. "I never thought I'd wish I was back in that desert!"

"Me either," Shijo grumbled in agreement. He could barely see his partner, who was walking along side him, and anything and anyone else was almost completely invisible. He hoped Agumon had some view of where they were going, someone to follow.

Thunder crashed loudly in the not-so-distant distance, and a flash of lightning that was far too close than should be allowed lit up the sky, showing dark clouds spreading as far as could be seen. Shijo shivered, partly in fear, partly from the cold and the rain, and then stopped short because he almost walked into Daisuke.

He, too, had stopped, but was not looking at the depressing sky. Instead, Daisuke was now peering through the rain and clouds at something in the distance. Shijo squinted through the fog beyond to try to see what was there.

"Are we here?" Miyako called over the rain. All that answered was another loud clap of thunder, and so she stepped forward, dragging her rain-soaked skirts through the puddles. "Thank heavens."

They had indeed arrived – or very nearly so, for in the distance was the familiar, longed-for sight of the palace. The edges of it were blurred by rain and fog, but it was real and no illusion. A wide path of a roadway lead up to the main gates, which even in this weather had to be guarded by a few unlucky, saturated souls.

"Well," muttered Hawkmon, only loud enough to be heard by Agumon, who was standing nearby, "it seems as though the place is still standing, after all." He was rather grumpy after a long walk in the rain, unhappy about having hurried for no apparent reason.

A clap of thunder sounded ever louder than before, and then a flash of lightning immediately afterward. For a brief moment, there was no sound but the rainfall as it pounded the ground into submission.

"She's nearby," Miyako realized, for suddenly she could sense the presence of Arachnemon as though the sorceress were standing right before her. There was a stronger, darker, more powerful quality to the magic now, which she supposed was due to the crystal's power.

Daisuke shook his head, sending a few droplets of water flying that had been gathering on the edges of his hair. "Something's wrong," he said darkly, glancing toward his partner.

This, Shijo thought grumpily, was obvious to even him. The storm was like none he had ever seen or heard of, and the fact that it had been raging for hours without diminishing in power in the slightest was a bad sign. He frowned, then shrugged, trying to make light of the situation. "Let's go and get out of the rain," he said, almost shouting to be heard over the storm.

"I agree!" Hawkmon called, waving one rain-soaked wing.

* * *

Mimi tapped lightly on the door, a strangely apprehensive feeling twisting somewhere in her stomach. There was no response at first, and so she tapped again, this time with a little more force than before. From within the room came a very quiet, almost inaudible humming sound. Curiosity overwhelming her natural inclination toward politeness, Mimi tapped again on the door and pushed it open. 

Due to the lack of sunlight outside, the room was fairly dark, much darker than she had expected. A few candles were lit, resting in various spots around the room; on the floor, on an end table, on the edge of a dresser. The tall window-doors were opened slightly, enough to allow a gentle breeze to enter, causing the candle flames to dance in the wind, casting odd, moving shadows on the walls.

Hikari was sitting on the bed, legs folded underneath her, an expression of serene concentration on her face. Her hair was loosely swaying in the breezes and her eyes were shut. Within her hands she was grasping the bejeweled hilt of an oddly beautiful sword, which was almost glowing as the light of the candles reflected off the smooth metal blade. Tailmon was napping a short distance away, curled into a peaceful-looking ball nestled between some pillows.

Peering around the doorframe, long green fingers curled around, Palmon stared into the room with big green eyes. "What is she doing?" she wondered.

One hand still on the doorknob, one foot into the room, Mimi shook her head slowly. "I'm not quite sure," she answered, turning her head toward her partner. "I'm not sure if I should be afraid…."

"Should we…do something?" Palmon asked.

Mimi let go of the doorknob and stepped backward out of the room. "Yes," she replied, turning to head down the hallway in the direction from which she'd come. "We tell her brother."

* * *

The rain still fell, but the storm had lessened in intensity; the lightning and thunder having faded to once every few minutes rather than every other second. Further south, however, the skies appeared ever darker and more intense, indicating that the storm was still very powerful in that direction. 

Takeru stood on the top of a rise of land overlooking a valley below, the edge of the more mountainous north. Distantly, he could see the towers of the palace, and a strange feeling of relief filled him. He had almost forgotten how long he had been away, and he had not realized how much he wished to return until that moment. The crystal was not humming now, but it felt strange in his hands, and he was almost certain that the rock (if it was possible for a rock to feel) felt the same way he did.

A sudden gust of air made him turn his head toward the north, and he saw that Li Tan's Airdramon had landed nearby. Iori was climbing down from his perch with an expression of great relief, mirrored on his partner's face.

"Good," Takeru said by way of greeting. "You made it through."

"Barely," the Airdramon tamer replied with a frown, rubbing his mount's huge neck with a tender hand. "I've never been in a storm quite like that one. You say you think it could have been a magical storm? I'm beginning to agree."

A gentle buzzing announced the wizard's arrival on the back of Kabuterimon, who de-evolved after landing, tired from the journey. It was Iori who answered, though, frowning at the dark clouds further south. "_I _have no doubt," he stated, and then turned his intense eyes toward Takeru. "Somehow I think you used that crystal again."

"You felt something?" Patamon questioned, peering down from his perch atop his partner's head.

Iori frowned even deeper, his eyes narrowing. "I don't know," he answered vaguely.

* * *

"I don't know," Yamato answered grumpily, head half-buried beneath a tall pile of papers. Despite the lamp burning brightly a short distance away from his head, the room was dark and dim, and his eyes glinted strangely in the light when he briefly looked up from his work. Swallowing what she believed (and hoped) to be irrational fear, Mimi didn't turn and run from the room. 

"I was only asking," she told him defensively. "Hikari…."

"Is she in danger?" he demanded before the sentence was complete. Perhaps too eager for action, Yamato got to his feet, accidentally pushing aside a few papers as he did so. "What a time to wander off alone," he complained, stepping away from the desk.

"I don't think so," Mimi answered, but he didn't seem to have heard her. Already he was halfway out the door, grabbing his sword from where it rested at the edge of the desk and strapping it to his side. "She's…."

"Where?"

"Will you wait for a moment?" Palmon interrupted before Mimi could attempt another unheard statement. "She's not hurt! There's no need to bring a sword along!"

Only chastened in the slightest, Yamato finished buckling the sword belt with a slightly sheepish expression. "Well then why are you bothering me?"

"We told you already Taichi is nowhere to be found," the plant digimon replied. "We were hoping you'd know where he was."

"He's gone out," Yamato said, as he had said before. "I don't know where or for how long." He was frowning now, calling up recent but not too well retained memories. "He had a strange sort of look on his face and I didn't think it'd be wise to argue."

Mimi frowned even deeper, anxiously glancing back through the open doorway she'd come through, down the hallway, as though hoping the young king might emerge from one of the doorways. "If he does come back…," she began, but again Yamato interrupted.

"Is something wrong with Hikari?"

She sighed. "It's hard to say," she replied, absently fingering the fabric of her skirts. "It's magic, I would think. Oh, what a time for Miyako and Koushiro to both be away…and the other mages…I'm not sure I trust them as much." She gave up on her skirts, and let them fall from her fingers.

* * *

"I don't know if coming out here in the rain was the best idea," Sora said, her voice barely above a whisper, her face twisted into a rather anxious expression. She had known by the look on his face that it would be completely futile to try to stop Taichi, but that didn't stop her from occasionally dropping broad hints, most of which he'd ignored. 

He'd been halfway out one of the less-used doors when she'd spotted him, half-hidden behind a cloak and hood that were perfect for keeping off the rain. He had not resisted when she'd invited herself along, for which she was glad. Each step of the journey closer to the town nearby had filled her with a strange sort of dread that had only gotten worse the second they'd entered the center square.

This was only the second time Sora had visited the growing capital village near the palace. In the last year, many new shops had been opened, as well as a few schools, and many people had come to live and work. Before long, it might become as prosperous a city as Kido, though that day might be a few years in the future. The town square was usually filled with people; shoppers, merchants, and travelers milling about. The heavy rains, however, had nearly cleared the area of most, and the only people Sora saw were those who were hurrying through the rain to shelter.

At the very center of the town was a beautiful and ancient marble fountain, only recently restored to its former beauty and glory after years of neglect. The area around it was a large, empty, circle-shaped area with several stone benches placed to allow people to sit and rest. The ground was made of a complex pattern of different shades of red bricks, and the outer sections of the circle were ordinarily patrolled by guards whose shiny boots clicked sharply on the stones. Today, it was completely empty, and the only sounds were of the rain pounding on the bricks.

Taichi paused unexpectedly at the edge of the empty circle and stared at the fountain for a few moments. He had barely spoken since they'd left the palace, and Sora had begun to fear that he had either lost his mind or embarked upon some insane mission, for this behavior was so entirely unlike him. "It's here," he said then, his voice so quiet that Sora could barely hear him over the sound of the rain.

"What's here?" she asked, looking around, for there was nothing of any great importance in the square that she could see.

* * *

I foresee (though not quite clearly yet) two, _maybe_ three chapters left in this story. Next chapter, we'll really get into some fighting, but I don't think the conclusion to the fighting will happen until the chapter afterward. If that's the case, I like to add on an extra chapter to tie up at least a few loose ends. 

As I mentioned, the next chapter will get into some major fighting. I'll finally return to Jyou, who's been largely ignored since that battle at the "end" of the last story. Sorry, Jyou. Stay tuned, it's almost over. Thanks for reading.

By the way, I've been trying to fight against it for a while, but it's fairly certain now that there'll be another story in this saga after this one. I've already got the bare bones of it swimming around in my head, begging to be written, but I'm fighting it off long enough to finish this one. Unintentionally or on purpose, I've foreshadowed enough in this story that I think I have to write the next one.


	18. Explosion!

**The Crystal Gate**

**Part Eighteen:** Explosion!

* * *

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:** _Digimon_ is not mine, including all characters, money, etc. Plot is mine. Don't steal, don't sue. Don't forget to moo.

Moo.

* * *

"You see?" Mimi asked, now absently playing with a gold chain around her neck. "Something…magical."

"I see," Yamato answered, and stepped forward. "Hikari?"

As before, she made no sign that she was aware of anything in the world around her and did not turn toward his voice or open her eyes. He stepped closer and reached out with one hand, gently placing it atop her left hand, which was resting on the sword hilt.

A strange sensation, almost like burning, though not as painful, spread from his hand, up his arm, directly into his head. He must have made some sort of sound or looked as though he was in pain, because Mimi gasped in surprise. He turned his head toward her and saw that she was staring with wide eyes. Then, he blinked, and the world faded away for a half-second before it returned, and he fell backwards, sitting down hard on the ground behind him.

"Are you all right?" Mimi questioned, stepping forward immediately.

"Fine, I think," he replied, his voice a bit shaky as he got to his feet.

Hikari opened one eye, startling Mimi (who had not taken her eyes from the princess for more than a second, and then only to gape at Yamato), and said, "You should go after him, I think."

"What-?" he managed to say after stammering for a moment or two, but then Hikari shut the eye again, frowning in concentration.

"After who?" Mimi questioned, but Hikari was again unresponsive, and she turned helplessly toward Yamato. "Does she mean Taichi?"

A sudden loud noise startled them both, and Yamato ran immediately to the window, throwing open the glass doors of the veranda with more force than advisable. "What was that?" Mimi asked, still with one eye on Hikari.

"Some sort of explosion," Yamato answered, turning his head left, right, down, searching for the source. "There…no, there! There!"

"In three places at once?" Mimi wondered, finally breaking her gaze to follow him to the veranda. She saw, with some amount of surprise, that there were three columns of smoke and dust coming from three different directions at once, indicating that there had been three explosions at once.

The blasts had happened a bit to the north, then to the south, and then directly ahead, within town below. "After him?" Yamato said absently, asking perhaps himself. "Which him?"

"Well, go!" Mimi scolded, gently smacking his shoulder to convince him. "I'll go if you don't."

"No," he disagreed immediately, turning back to the inside. "Stay here, with Hikari. Keep her safe!"

* * *

Something slammed into the ground barely two steps away from where Miyako was standing. The force of the impact blew her hair back from her face and singed the edge of her saturated skirts. The flames were immediately doused by the ever-present rain, which was slowly beginning to fade.

"What was that?" she heard a voice shout, and immediately, before she was even aware if anyone was hurt or dead, Miyako cast out with her magical senses, searching for some sort of danger, some sort of dark magic. Before she had reached far beyond herself, however, she felt the pressure of the crystal's power in her chest, and, distracted by the pain, broke off her search. It was a stronger pressure than she had felt before, making it difficult to breath, and she felt her legs grow weaker beneath her.

"Some sort of explosion," a different voice was saying, answering the question. The sound of voices, of the rain, all was fading and growing fuzzy in her ears, sounding as though it were a great distance away.

"Miyako?" Her partner's voice was at least recognizable, though fuzzy, and when she opened her eyes, Miyako could see a blur of colors that vaguely resembled him. Her vision, too, was as blurry and fuzzy as her hearing. She found herself wondering once more if she was about to die.

"Are you all right?" someone else questioned, and when she turned her head she could see that Ken had dropped to the ground beside her. Miyako thought to speak, but it was difficult enough to try to breathe. The air caught in her throat and all that escaped was a gasp.

"It doesn't look as though she is," Wormmon intoned glumly, his big blue eyes peering at her with concern.

* * *

"How is that an answer?" Armadimon demanded, glaring toward his partner. "Did you feel something or didn't you?"

"I don't know if I did," Iori replied, frowning in thought. "It's not a feeling I'm used to having, so maybe it was and maybe it wasn't."

The crystal in Takeru's hands was quietly humming again, and it felt warm on his skin. Suddenly, it began to hum a bit louder, and it felt almost hot. He looked down at it, wondering what the reason for this was, and in that very instant something exploded nearby.

It was very near, and when the loud sound had faded Takeru heard the fearful cries of Li Tan's Airdramon echoing in his ears. He turned and saw that a cloud of dust had risen from the ground nearby, undoubtedly at the place where the explosion had originated. Li Tan had gripped hold of his Airdramon's leads and was trying to calm him, but the explosion had been very loud and very near, and it was not easy.

"What caused that?" Patamon wondered from his partner's head. "I don't see anything…."

There was nothing to be seen. The dust was rising to the sky, but nothing had emerged from within, and there had been nothing for it to set on fire. Takeru was beginning to think the worst of the danger was over (which seemed unlikely) when another explosion happened a few steps in the other direction, and then, almost immediately afterward, a third and fourth explosion went off a short distance away. The Airdramon's cries grew louder over the sounds, and Li Tan lost hold of the reins, allowing the frightened serpentine digimon to escape the danger.

"Some sort of magic," Koushiro called, turning sharply when he heard another explosion behind him. "I think it's caused by a bolt of powerful magic slamming into the ground at high speeds."

"So…avoid them, right?" Armadimon concluded, already having taken a few steps back from his previous position.

"I'm not sure if they're _trying_ to hit us or not," Iori called over another explosion. "If they are, they've got bad aim."

"They?" Li Tan echoed. "They who?"

"Wish I knew," Iori replied. "Then we could stop them."

"Can you figure out where the magic is coming _from_?" Takeru asked the wizard. "Whatever the reasons for this, I'd like to stop it."

A slightly larger explosion than before emerged a short distance from him, this time between Takeru and the others. Instinctively, he took a step back, not wishing to be in the middle of it, and another explosion went off directly behind him, causing him to step forward again. A tiny, mini explosion struck in the dirt at his feet, and he felt a warmth near his toes.

A small fire had started near his feet, and when Takeru looked, he saw that the toe of his left shoe was aflame. He stepped backward, dousing his toes by rubbing his foot in the dirt, but the fire on the ground grew in power. Undaunted, Takeru went to stomp on these flames as well, for they weren't very large.

"Don't!" Koushiro warned. "The magic caused the fire…those might be magical flames. Unless you want to be burned, I wouldn't run into them."

Takeru took a step back from the flames again. "I have this bad feeling…," he said, glancing up at his partner.

"You did say they were after the crystal. If that's true…,"

"They still are!" Iori finished. "Koushiro – do you know where the magic is coming from? Who is doing this? Anything?"

* * *

The medical rooms in the palace were thankfully devoid of patients, as they had been for the last few days. The only injured person today was a servant unlucky enough to damage his hand with a knife that was supposed to be used for chopping vegetables but had been used to chop fingers instead. Much to the patient's relief, the wound was not so serious that he would need to lose any of his damaged fingers. Jyou had overseen the applying of a poultice of pain-killing herbs and then left the nurse with the task of applying the bandage.

"Now?" Gomamon questioned impatiently from his partner's shoulder. "_Now_?"

"Now what?" Jyou asked, though he knew very well what.

"Now can we go outside for a bit?" the digimon demanded. "You've been promising for the last three hours. There aren't any patients, and you don't have anything better to do, but you keep _finding_ something."

"You don't have to wait for me," the doctor replied, slipping through the doorway into his personal office. It was a tiny room, lined with shelves and file cabinets stuffed to the brim with patient records and medical books. "You're perfectly capable of going outside on your own. I know you are, I've seen you do it."

"Yes, yes," Gomamon said dismissively, waving this aside with one flipper. "It's _you_ that needs it, though."

"Need it?" Jyou echoed, rolling his eyes. "What I need is…."

Precisely what he needed Gomamon never heard, because at that moment the ground shook, apparently from the force of an earthquake. Several heavy books fell from their shelves, and a glass instrument shattered when it hit the floor. Some sort of explosion occurred in the midst of one of the bookcases, and a few more heavy books flew violently from the shelves. Instinctively, Jyou threw himself to the ground to avoid the sharp flying pieces of wood that broke off from the bookcases. Some of the books crashed into the wall beyond and then fell to the ground, and a few didn't make it as far as the wall but crashed into other things in the office. A small clock that had been on the desk was knocked to the floor, the glass cover shattering.

"One of your patients not so happy with your diagnosis?" Gomamon questioned of his partner, who stared at him as though he had lost his mind.

"You think someone did this?" he asked, climbing shakily to his feet, looking around him. His eyes fell on the clock, and he grimaced at the sight of it. "I liked that clock. Who would want to damage a doctor's office?"

Gomamon shrugged lightly. "There are all sorts of people in this world," he remarked causally. "Maybe someone who wanted that thing."

He was referring to a small, faintly glowing object which was floating in midair a short distance from the doctor's face. It was the crystal he had obtained in Kido, which he had been keeping safe in a wooden box on the shelf of the bookcase that had been damaged. Jyou reached out and took the crystal in his hand.

"_That_ seems more likely," he said to his partner, and turned to leave the office.

* * *

Without any warning whatsoever, the stone fountain exploded, sending small bits of rocks in every direction and immediately flooding the already saturated town square. Taichi didn't seem to much mind the explosion, but Sora did, and she threw herself on the ground immediately. When he didn't follow, she grabbed hold of the edge of his cloak and pulled him down as well. She felt a shard of stone slice open her left shoulder, slicing through the fabric of her clothes without any difficulty. Another sharp, brief pain appeared on her cheek, and when she touched it gingerly she found blood.

"It's here," Taichi said again, not glancing in her direction, and got to his feet. Fearful of another explosion, Sora grabbed at the hem of his cloak again, but it slipped from her fingers.

"No," she gasped, and reached farther, this time grabbing hold of his ankle before he had walked far enough to be out of reach. "Don't – it's dangerous."

"It is indeed," said a voice she had never heard before, and Sora looked up to see that a pale-skinned man with long, dark, oily hair was standing in the space where the fountain had once been. "You should not have come here with him. You have interfered."

"You shouldn't have brought him here," Sora returned, quickly scrambling to her feet. "Who are you?"

The man smiled vaguely. "Ah, you _are_ clueless, aren't you? Wonderful. Everything went according to plan."

As though awakened from a dream of some sort, Taichi turned his head to face her for the first time since they'd left the palace. "Sora?"

"What plan?" Piyomon demanded, stepping out from behind her partner.

"It doesn't matter," the man replied, shrugging. He was dressed completely in black – black, shiny boots, black pants, black shirt, black jacket, a long, black cloak around his shoulders. "I have a use for him, but not for you."

He waved his arm, and Sora felt her feet leave the ground, the world suddenly rushing past beneath her at a great speed. Then, everything seemed to be moving in slow-motion. She saw her partner, hurrying to follow, and Taichi, who was staring at her as though he were wondering if this all was a nightmare that might end soon.

There was a bright light somewhere behind her, and a blur of blue and white rushed past at a great speed. Somewhere, Sora was aware of someone shouting, but she couldn't hear what or tell who it was. Then, she stopped moving and slammed into something.

* * *

"It won't be hard at all. I'll do all the work. I only need a little bit of help from you, if you don't mind."

Yamato had disappeared, running down to something below, Mimi wasn't sure what. She turned away from the window at the sound of Hikari's voice, but it didn't appear as though she was the one being addressed, because the words didn't make much sense.

In the hallway beyond the room the sound of frantic footsteps could be heard, coupled with an occasional gasp of breath. After a few moments the footsteps stopped and Jyou appeared in the doorway. His hair was disheveled, his clothing rumpled. A few tears and rips were scattered around his shirt and pants, and his glasses were crooked on his nose. He paused for breath, leaning on the doorframe, and straightened them so he could see clearly before speaking.

"Are you all right?" Mimi questioned, for she had never before seen him so upset. Gomamon, who was holding onto his partner's head for dear life, shook his head ominously. "What's happened?"

"My office," Jyou said. "My office exploded!"

Mimi glanced toward her partner briefly. "Exploded?" she echoed.

"Exploded!" he replied.

"It wasn't the whole office," Gomamon interjected in a far calmer tone. "It was only the bookshelf, but it did a bit of damage."

"Broke my clock," Jyou muttered, crossing the room to sit in a chair. "I liked that clock." He only then noticed Hikari, who was still seated on the edge of the bed, legs folded beneath her, hands grasping the sword. "What is she doing?"

"I don't know. Seeing, I suppose," Mimi answered dismissively. "Why would anyone blow up a bookshelf in your office?"

"Disgruntled patients," Gomamon replied cheekily. Jyou glared at him for a moment, but the digimon appeared as immune as usual.

"It was not," he said, finally breaking off the glare. "I think they were after this thing." He held out his hand, opening his fingers to reveal the crystal he had collected in Kido.

Mimi frowned for a moment, and turned toward the window. "Maybe that's what caused the other explosions as well," she thought aloud.

* * *

"Mind?" Daisuke said unexpectedly. "Why would I mind?"

The rain had almost stopped, and there had been no further explosions. Miyako did not seem to have been physically hurt, but nor did she seem to be all right. She had fallen to the ground after the explosion, clutching her chest as though she was in great pain. Her breath was coming in quick, shallow gasps, and she was looking rather pale.

"Mind what?" Shijo questioned, looking toward him, but he didn't seem to have heard or seen. The boy noticed that a strange sort of expression had come over his face, as though he were listening to and perhaps seeing something that was not there.

Without saying anything else, Daisuke crossed the space between himself and Miyako. Perhaps sensing something of importance, Ken stepped back, watching with one eyebrow raised in curiosity.

"What's he doing?" Agumon questioned of V-mon, who shrugged absently and sat down in the mud to watch. He was already filthy and soaked, so much so that anyone who had never seen him before would have thought his natural color was brown rather than blue.

"It's not going to hurt," Daisuke said, apparently addressing Miyako, who was staring at him as though she did not know him. "I can help, if you let me." His voice sounded strangely calm, almost as though it was not his own. He reached out one hand and, with only a bit of apprehension, Miyako took it in her own and nodded, understanding or perhaps merely desperate for relief.

* * *

"Fox fire!" shouted Garurumon, a blur of white and blue as he crossed the town square, leaping over the remains of the fountain. His attack, a hot flame, surrounded the man in the center of the rubble, followed shortly by the digimon himself, teeth bared, a vicious growl emitting from his throat.

"Are you all right?" Yamato questioned, and Sora realized that he was the thing that she had slammed into instead of the wall of a nearby building. The blue and white blur was his partner, who was now attacking the man, whoever he was.

After a moment, however, Garurumon was once more a blue and white blur as he flew back, thrown. There was a loud thud as he crashed into the wall of a nearby building, and a few pieces of brick dislodged from their previously secure places and tumbled to the ground, sending a small cloud of dust into the air. Almost immediately, however, he recovered, leaping into action at once.

"Let me help, oh let me help," Piyomon said, almost hopping up and down with eagerness. "I don't like that guy."

"I'm not too fond of him either at the moment," Sora answered, slowly breaking away from Yamato to stand on her own. "Go."

Garurumon latched onto the man's arm with his teeth, and had miraculously succeeded in throwing him backward. A moment later a fiery flame attack surrounded them both, courtesy of Birdramon, who attacked from the sky. Another explosion scattered small sparks of flame and pieces of stone and rock around the square.

Taichi had not been hurt, and although his first instinct was to go after Sora when she had been thrown across the square, a second desire was slowly beginning to burn in his mind. Torn between two conflicting wishes, he hesitated for a moment, watching the battle unfold before him, Agumon standing beside him with wide eyes. When the explosion occurred, he threw himself to the ground (at this point having regained enough sense to do so) to avoid the flying debris. A few small pieces of stone tore slits in his clothing and made tiny red marks on his arms.

He vaguely remembered having slipped out of the palace earlier and making his way toward town, but it was as though he had been in a dream, for his memories were hazy and unclear. Silently, he cursed himself for having put himself and Sora in such danger, but he then put aside his self-blame and tried to make sense of the situation.

The solitary man who was somehow managing to hold his own against the attacks of two adult digimon at once was obviously some sort of wizard. A dark wizard, if his attacks were any clue as to his allegiances, and a powerful one.

A memory chose that moment to return to him; the information Miyako had obtained about the crystals before she'd left the palace to head east. Ken had told her there were five crystals, one not far from the palace. Although it had occurred to Taichi to look for such a crystal, he had put it from his mind for the time being, certain that it would soon appear. Again he cursed himself for not having immediately begun such a search. He glanced back through the smoke and dust of the battleground, toward where Sora and Yamato were standing, anxiously watching their partners battle.

Whoever this wizard was, he undoubtedly wanted the crystal. If he was here, perhaps the crystal was nearby. For a moment, Taichi thought of seeking out the object and finding it before the wizard, but he immediately dismissed this. He had no idea where a crystal might be or how to find it.

A third explosion racked the square. Distantly, the sounds of shouting and cries of alarm could be heard coming from the townspeople. The rain had slowed, but was still falling steadily, and it was shortly joined by the louder sound of falling rocks as more of the fountain was disassembled by force.

"If you find the crystal," Agumon suggested, already looking around him as though he might find the object in question on the ground somewhere nearby.

"How do I do that, exactly?" Taichi called over the sounds of battle. A large chunk of rock landed on the ground a short distance from him, and he realized that had he been standing a step to his left he might currently be suffering a rather bad headache at the moment. He thought of getting out of danger, and took a step backwards. A rock slammed into the ground where he had been standing.

"I don't know," Agumon answered. "Maybe there's some way you sense it?"

This was as useless a suggestion as had ever been offered, ever, even if it made a tiny bit of sense. Taichi glanced toward his partner with an expression of disbelief. "How?" he repeated, feeling frustrated.

"I don't know!" Agumon replied again, now in an equally frustrated voice. "Do something instead of standing here waiting for a rock to bash your head in, though!"

The persistent squeal of an activated digivice silence the rain for a brief second, and a white light flared in the square before the massive Greymon appeared and charged into battle. Taichi shrugged absently, thinking that this was better than nothing.

Before his partner had succeeded in getting off more than a few fireballs, however, another explosion shook the town ever more than the first three had. Pieces of stone began to fall from the tops of buildings nearby, and all three digimon were thrown forcefully back, de-evolving as they flew through the air. Agumon fell a short distance from his partner's feet, moaning in pain, and Gabumon and Piyomon landed similarly as well.

"It's too late," said a woman's voice, and slowly the smoke from the explosions began to clear. "Two crystals!"

"Excellent," said the voice of the wizard. "Excellent."

When the smoke cleared, both were gone.

* * *

Finally, it seems as though we are nearing the end. A bit of action here, and a lot of blowing things up. I'm not usually fond of blowing things up quite this much, but it was fun.

Lots of action next chapter. How many left? It depends on how fast I write. Stay tuned. Thanks for reading!


	19. The Battle Has Begun

**The Crystal Gate**

**Part Nineteen:** The Battle Has Begun

* * *

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie: **_Digimon_, all related characters, etc, do not belong to me. Plot, however, does. Mostly. Don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo.

* * *

"I'm glad I'm not down there," Mimi said glumly, looking down at the clouds of smoke rising from the town below. "Yet I wonder what's going on."

"Whatever it is, it's probably dangerous and bad," Jyou replied in an equally glum voice, peering over her shoulder. "Who did you say is involved? They're likely to be injured. Explosions? I wonder what's caused them?"

"I can guess who," Gomamon piped up from his partner's shoulder. "I'd guess the same lady that attacked Kido."

"Oh, that sorceress?" Mimi asked, shaking her head with a sigh. "I should have guessed. If she's here, then we'll probably see that crazy digimon, too."

"Mummymon, you mean," Palmon inserted.

"Yes, him," her partner replied, shivering at the memory of her brief meeting with Mummymon. "I'm glad the palace is protected with ancient magic."

"I'd hate to see what would happen if he managed to get inside here," Jyou agreed.

* * *

"Gone! Damn!" Yamato muttered, a bit louder than he had intended. "Who the hell was he?"

"I wish I knew," Sora answered quietly, bending to take her partner in her arms. "Are you all right?"

"I think so," Piyomon answered, looking a bit dazed. The pink bird digimon was carefully holding her head in one wing.

"I'm certain he must be some sort of dark wizard," Gabumon reported, shaking his head to clear his vision. "He produced something – a powerful shield, I'd guess – I couldn't get near him for more than a second or two. Attacks seemed to do no harm, either."

"That sounds like a dark wizard to me," Taichi said glumly. A severe frown was on his face as he peered over the ruins of the fountain, arms folded. "I don't understand who he is, or how a dark wizard could have been so near to the palace and no one sensed him."

"I don't know much about magic," Yamato answered, "but I'd suppose that if he's very powerful, he might be able to hide himself."

"Wouldn't that be part of a dark wizard's skills?" Sora asked, half speaking to herself. "An ability to hide? Is it not a skill of dark magic to conceal? And, if the mages of the palace are not used to the sense of dark magic…."

"Not used to it?" Yamato echoed, half shouting. "Miyako and Koushiro spent an entire winter around dark magic in the east!"

There was a moment of silence as they all paused to consider the implications of this statement. "Miyako is not here," Sora said, slowly. "Koushiro…."

"Damn," Taichi muttered in a far more quieter tone than Yamato had used. "This was planned, wasn't it? To separate us, somehow, while they planned something, right here! To get the crystal that was hidden in the town. Damn."

There was a long silence, which was broken by the sound of voices coming from south of the town center. All around, distantly, came the sounds of shouting as the townsfolk dealt with damage to their buildings caused by the explosions. The rain was ending, but the sun had not appeared. What little light there was would likely end soon because the sun would soon sent.

Feeling suddenly tired, Taichi sat down on a chunk of stone that had once been a piece of the fountain. He sighed heavily and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands.

"Taichi," Sora said, slowly stepping forward. "Are you….?"

"I'm all right, I think," he said, sounding for the moment as tired as he looked.

* * *

Instead of answering the question Iori had posed, Koushiro turned his head toward the south, though not toward the palace but the town nearby. "What the - ?" he questioned. A moment later, a shower of mini explosions sent grass flying into the air all around, and the earth shook as though an earthquake had happened.

"What's going on?" Li Tan called over the noise, his voice sounding terrified. He'd been in many battles, but earthquakes, explosions, and magic he was not used to at all.

"Mummymon," Patamon reported, having spotted the tall, thin digimon through the haze of dust and dirt. "I thought so."

"No," Koushiro returned, shaking his head. "No, those other explosions – it wasn't all caused by him."

"You have it," the mummy said simply. "I want it. If you will not give it, I will take it by force! Ah-ha ha!"

The wail of an activated digivice was barely audible over the latest barrage of explosions and the mummy's insane laughter.

"Armadimon evolve! Ankylomon!"

"Back! Get back!" Takeru shouted, stepping back and then running back, away from Mummymon. The ground shaking beneath his massive footsteps, Armadimon put himself between the insane mummy and his prey. The explosive missiles bounced harmlessly off his armor, falling to the ground with small clinks.

"Let's just hope he doesn't bring reinforcements," Iori said with a sigh, glancing toward Koushiro. The wizard was once again looking toward the south, however, seeming almost not to have heard this statement, and immediately the youngest of the Chosen was filled with a sense of dread. "Don't tell me…."

"There is dark magic near here," Koushiro answered with certainty, still staring toward the town. "It was used to attack…."

"Attack?" Takeru echoed. "Attack what? Who?"

"I don't know…," the wizard replied, "but I assume it was the cause of that." He raised one arm and pointed toward the town. A tall column of smoke was rising from the center square.

"Uh…what about _that_?" Tentomon interrupted, indicating another column of smoke rising beyond the first, further south.

"They're attacking the palace?" Li Tan questioned, confused.

"No," Koushiro answered, shaking his head. "They can't. Not with dark magic. Not without an immense amount of it. It's too well guarded. A thousand years worth of magical spells, reinforced with every new birth. The magic is stronger now than ever before. If the princess is within the castle, it will stand as long as she lives."

"Is she, though?" Iori wondered, frowning. He glanced up toward Takeru. "She was with you in Takaishi, wasn't she? Suppose she is still there?"

* * *

The rain had all but halted, the previous thundering downpour now replaced by the sound of an occasional drip, drop of water on the stone paths leading to the palace ahead. Distantly, the sounds of explosions and the aftermath of stones flying could be heard in the town.

"Should we go down there?" Miyako wondered, turning her head toward the sound. A cold breeze danced through the grasses, scattering drops of rainwater through the air. She shivered.

"No," Ken answered, though she had not been specifically speaking to him. "I'll go."

"Alone?" Wormmon asked, glancing up toward his partner.

"Not precisely," he answered, casting a faint smile in the caterpillar's direction as he lifted him in his arms and headed for the town.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Miyako asked, but he was already gone. She glanced back toward Daisuke, who had said nothing, and was looking toward the palace with a thoughtful expression. "Daisuke? Are you going to let him go alone?"

As though the matter were of no great concern to him, Daisuke shrugged casually and took a few steps toward the palace. "It's something that has to be done," he called over his shoulder. "Go where you want."

Anything Miyako would have liked to say in response to that was cut off by the sound of loud rumbling, and the ground began to shake violently, forcing her to expend all her energies on keeping herself stable. A crack emerged in the earth only a few steps in front of Daisuke, blocking his path, and then the air began to shake.

Miyako could feel a strong, though faint pain growing inside her chest, quite similar to the pain that she had felt before. Now, however, the pain was a mere annoyance rather than a debilitating attack, and she was able to focus her senses – her _magical_ senses – without being distracted by the pain. A great concentration of magic was forming above her, and she could somehow _feel_ that the fabric of the air – of the space – was being opened.

"A portal," she realized, staring upward. "She's opening a portal to another world!"

Hawkmon sighed, regarding his partner with a patient expression. "You've been saying they were going to do that for weeks now," he reminded her. "I don't know why you should be so surprised."

To normal vision, everything looked exactly the same, and for the first time in a while, Miyako completely removed the spectacles that allowed her to see without magic and stuffed them in a mostly-undamaged pocket of her skirt. With magical sight, the air directly above her was a swirling mass of colors spinning around in a whirlwind of magic. Slowly, the colors faded as they spun, becoming darker and darker shades, until they were nothing but black. A flash of lightning crashed into the ground, throwing everyone back.

Pulling herself up from the ground and the shallow, muddy puddle that she'd landed in, Miyako squinted through the haze of dust that had risen from the ground. Four tall shapes and four smaller shapes had become visible, and as she watched, the dust faded. The taller shapes became men, or at least very good imitations of men, clad entirely in black with black masks covering their faces so that only their eyes were visible. Each of them held a dangerous, long sword. The smaller shapes were Gotsumon, small but dangerous digimon that appeared to be made entirely out of rocks. Their eyes were glinting with the fire of battle, and they seemed prepared to fight. Miyako had no time to glance toward her partner or Daisuke before the Gotsumon leapt forward.

"Angry rock!" they chorused, and two of them leapt toward Miyako. They other two, she presumed, leapt toward Daisuke, but she didn't have time to look in his direction. Hurriedly, she raised a shield, knowing that it wouldn't hold for long, and fumbled in her pocket for her digivice. The Gotsumon pounded on the shield with their stone fists.

"Digimental up!" Miyako shouted, having reached with her hand the object she'd been looking for. She let the shield drop and stepped backward from the line of battle.

"Hawkmon armor evolve! Shurimon!" called her partner at the same time that two of the men leapt forward, the metal of their swords glinting in the dim light. "Kusanagi!"

Faster than the eye could follow, Shurimon darted between the two men, slicing and cutting with the sharp pointed blades at the end of his limbs. He was only a pale green blur between the dark and gray colors of the men and Gotsumon, and a second later he was once again beside Miyako. One of the men glanced briefly toward his right shoulder, where a slit in his shirt revealed that he was indeed made of flesh and blood, some of which was dripping from his wound. The other had a similar wound on his left thigh, but he seemed to pay it no attention.

* * *

There was no time for rest, however, for only a moment later, a powerful earthquake shook the ground, and a few chunks of stone fell off of an already badly damaged building. It landed with a loud thud in the midst of the courtyard, sending a cloud of dust scattering into the winds. A solitary bolt of lightning, odd in the rain-free skies, slammed into the ground at the space where the fountain had once been, and even more dust rose into the skies.

"Does it never end!" Yamato shouted over the noise, half a question, half a frustrated exclamation.

"For you?" said a female voice, sounding sweet and gentle. "For you, it ends here!"

The dust faded and Yamato looked upward to see the digimon who had spoken hovering above him. She had long white hair and black wings, which were tattered and torn so much that it was a wonder she could fly. Her skin was a pale white, and very little of it was covered. What she did wear appeared to be made from leather, tightly hugging the curves of her torso. Leather strips traveled up her long, pale legs, stretching from black boots. One arm was encased entirely in a form-fitting leather glove; the other was bare and ordinary looking until the eyes reached the elbow, from there it was a mechanical, metal contraption with sharp claws.

"Who - ?" Sora could be heard gasping, but before she could finish the question she became aware of five smaller shapes appearing in the fading cloud of dust. "What - ?"

"Ogremon!" Piyomon answered the second question, recognizing the newcomers before any one else.

"Bone Club!" shouted the five Ogremon in unison, leaping into the air. All around the square, the sounds of stone smashing could be heard as the ogres' clubs slammed into buildings and anything else that stood in their way. Their mission seemed to be to destroy everything in their paths.

Yamato had not taken his eyes from the female digimon in the sky. Eyes upward, he was the first to notice the screeching wail of an approaching Airdramon coming from the north. A moment later, a flash of white light slammed into the flying digimon's chest. She screamed in pain and fell back, searching the skies for the source of the attack.

"Lady Devimon!" called a powerful sounding voice; Angemon was the one who had attacked. "You will not wreak havoc here!"

"Try to stop me, fool!" she called back, recovering her strength and flying higher in the sky. "You haven't the power! Darkness Wave!"

A wave of dark energy soared toward Angemon, who raised his fist in defiance. "Heaven's Knuckle!" he shouted, sending the same flash of white light toward his opponent.

So intent upon watching the battle was Yamato that he barely noticed the sound of the Airdramon landing behind him. When he did turn, he saw that his brother was climbing down from a saddle on the back of the flying serpent, and that another man and a fierce-looking Lopmon were riding on the back.

"Upon the back of an Airdramon?" Yamato questioned, shaking his head. "I have seen everything, now."

Before Takeru could answer, however, there was another screech as the Airdramon took to the air again. Although his rider had been able to calm it long enough to carry a passenger, the sounds of explosions and battle had made the normally ferocious digimon nervous and anxious, and he took to the sky again.

"Bone Club!" shouted an Ogremon, running toward them, now. He seemed intent upon attacking rather than simply destroying, and he leapt into the air, his huge club prepared to pound human flesh rather than simply a stone.

"Gabumon evolve!" came a voice over the sound of a screeching digivice, and then a massive white beast with blue stripes appeared. "Garurumon! Fox Fire!"

The Ogremon seemed undeterred by the fact that he was on fire, for he slammed into the ground a short distance away, sending up a cloud of dust. He roared, perhaps in pain but mostly in anger, and took a step forward, swinging his club. "Bone Club!" he shouted again, and leapt high into the air.

"Fox Fire!" called Garurumon, and the Ogremon was engulfed in flames. He broke through them, however, once more oblivious to the flames, and swung his now flaming club toward Garurumon, who took a step backwards.

"Bone Club!" shouted a second Ogremon, leaping from the dust and rubble to attack from behind. Before he had reached the ground, however, something intercepted him that could only be identified as a green blur. It slammed into the Ogremon, sending him flying, and then was gone, apparently flying on to something else.

Takeru was not fortunate enough to be armed, but his brother had taken to carrying his favorite sword in case a battle should rescue him from paperwork. He unsheathed it now and was barely able to block the attack of a third Ogremon as it lunged toward the brothers. "I could use some help!" he shouted.

"I haven't got anything to fight with!" Takeru answered. "Do you want me to run at him with my bare hands?"

"How do you head to battle unarmed?" the elder brother demanded, his voice scolding. Although he had been able to the attack of the Ogremon, his return swings did little damage, and the ogre digimon was largely undeterred. His bulging muscles flexing, he swung his club wildly, narrowly missing Takeru only because he was quick enough to dodge.

"I didn't know I was heading to battle!" he replied indignantly, grabbing some heavy stones from the ground. He chucked a few at the ogre's head, which had the effect of greatly angering it. It turned away from Yamato, whose arms were beginning to feel like mud, and sought out the source of the stones.

"Idiot," Yamato muttered under his breath, referring to both the Ogremon and his brother. Once the ugly green digimon had turned away, he lunged with his sword, slicing a clean cut down the back of the digimon. It screamed in agony and sank to one knee, fighting against the pull of the ground below.

"Bone Club!" shouted the Ogremon, its injury seeming not to effect it, and Yamato was able to leap quickly out of harm's way.

"Fox Fire!" came the voice of Garurumon at that exact moment, and the Ogremon he had been fighting deleted into nothingness, defeated. Noting his partner's distress, the large digimon shouted his attack again, and the already badly damaged ogre deleted in the same manner. Takeru dropped the rocks he'd been throwing, feeling tired, and Yamato sheathed his sword and wiped the sweat from his brow.

* * *

"It looks bad out there," Mimi observed with a sigh. Although the skies above the town below were clearing and only the occasional drop of rain was falling, the sky above the palace was dark and dismal, and the occasional bolt of lightning illuminated the sky. Thunder rumbled often, and each time it did, she shivered and stepped back from the window, only to return a moment later, noting the appearance of another cloud of smoke.

A giant battle appeared to be taking place in the center of the town, for dust and smoke had clouded this area and it had not yet cleared, though it had been nearly an hour since the first explosions had rocked the palace. With a sigh, Mimi turned away from the window.

Jyou had given up on watching the battles below, and was studying the crystal in his hand with an interest he'd never had time to take before. It was a simple enough tiny stone, barely as long as his longest finger, and only a little wider. At first glance, it seemed inconspicuous an ordinary as any other crystal he'd seen, most of which had been in objects of jewelry worn by the ladies at the palace. The more one studied it, however, the more it seemed to catch the light, and the more it seemed to catch the light, the more it seemed that it was not merely catching the light but producing its own light.

This was impossible, of course, so far as Jyou knew. Yet if it was magic – and it certainly seemed to be – it was possible. He had seen magic do far stranger things than make light from a rock.

Hikari had not yet moved, save for the brief period in which she had advised Yamato. An expression of serene concentration was on her face, and had not altered. "It's begun," she mumbled now, shaking her head, and frowned. Jyou looked up from his contemplation of the crystal and Mimi turned away from the window. For a tense moment, they waited, and then she opened her eyes.

It had been so long since she had moved or spoken that Mimi had begun to forget that she was capable of such things. Now, however, Tailmon was yawning and stretching as though she were awaking from a long nap. For a moment, Hikari contemplated the sword in front of her as though she were reading an interesting book. Mimi glanced toward her partner, who shrugged, and then toward Jyou, who was slowly rising to his feet.

"Are you all right?" the doctor questioned, stepping forward, and then stepped back as she unexpectedly swung the sword in front of her. She nodded once, and turned to face him.

"The battle has begun," she said. "We should go to help."

* * *

Sorry for the immense delay in updating. I've been a bit busy, and it's been difficult to find time to sit down and work out unraveling this puzzle I've created. I'm not sure if I'm completely happy with how this is working, but I figured it was better to post _something_ instead of nothing.

One, maybe two chapters left. Still not sure of how it's ending. Working on it. Thanks for reading.


	20. Neither Living Nor Dead

**The Crystal Gate**

**Part Twenty**: Neither Living Nor Dead

* * *

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:** _Digimon_, all characters, etc, are not mine. This rambling thing called a plot is. Don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

* * *

The town was in a valley, below the palace. A stone path meandered through soft green grass, down a gently sloping hill toward the village square. Ordinarily, the path in the early evening was traveled mostly by merchants who had peddled their wares in the palace courtyards and were returning to their homes for the evening. A few people were often seen strolling about, seeking the best place to view the approaching sunset.

Today, the village was less peaceful than usual, with what seemed to be an endless string of explosions sending stone, bricks, and mortar down to the ground with violent, damaging results. Therefore, the path between the town and the palace was also far less peaceful, crowded with people escaping the battles, knowing that they would be far safer behind the refuge of strong walls and ancient, protective magic.

It was difficult to escape the palace, for the crowds were thick and the people were panicking. The men of the palace guard were anxiously watching the growing crowd from their posts every few steps, and a few of them were arguing amongst themselves about whether or not refugees ought to be allowed to enter the palace. During the day, certain parts of the building were opened to all people, and the great hall had many times before offered food and shelter to those taking refuge. With little knowledge of what was going on in the town, some of the guards seemed to think that they should turn away the people.

"There's too many of them," one of them could be heard grumbling as Mimi emerged into a corridor near to the hall. Even here, the din of conversation and panicked townspeople could be heard through the thick walls. "We ought to…."

"To what, exactly?" Jyou demanded, pausing in his steps. "Send them back to a town that's half destroyed?"

The guard who had spoken and the one he had been complaining to immediately shook their heads. "N-no, sir," he stammered.

"Are there injured amongst them?" he questioned. "Anything serious?"

"I don't know," the guard replied apologetically. "I was told not to leave my post."

"There are things here that must be seen to," Hikari said, entering the corridor at last. "We must not spend much time, however. We are needed far more elsewhere."

"Y-you're going down to the village?" the guard asked, eyes wide, mouth falling open. "B-but…."

"It is where I am needed," she answered, and he let any further protests fall silent, though he stared as she passed.

The hall was crowded with people, even more people than had taken shelter during the blizzards of the past winter. The wounded and injured had been clustered together in a corner of the hall, and already the palace doctors and nurses, along with a handful of untrained volunteers, were applying bandages and cleaning wounds. Without hesitation, Jyou crossed the room and headed to that area.

"Princess!" a relieved voice called from across the room, and a moment later the captain of the palace guards had crossed the hall and was standing before them. He was a tall man with dark hair and eyes that had seen war. His normally impeccable uniform was torn, and bloodstains spattered it. "It is a great relief to see you…."

"I cannot stay," Hikari interrupted before he could comment further on her good fortune. "I have to go where I am needed."

He hesitated for a long moment, obviously fighting against his desire to find some way of making her stay. "It is understood, your majesty," he answered finally, conceding. "The refugees…."

"Let them in," she answered, peering around the room at the people. Some of them were completely unharmed, but almost all of them appeared distressed in some way. Families sat together, parents comforting children. Even those who had escaped unharmed had no guarantee that their homes and possessions would not be completely destroyed. "Every one of them. I don't care if they're injured or not. Put them wherever we have space."

"You're certain - ?"

"The town may very well not be standing by the time the sun rises tomorrow," Hikari replied. "Allow every last one to enter."

"Yes, ma'am," he answered immediately, pleased to have official orders at last. Hurriedly, he bowed and rushed off to his work.

* * *

The attacks and power of the dark wizard they had seen had somehow weakened the digimon to a state where victory was not assured, even over what appeared to be relatively weak Ogremon. Greymon and Birdramon had set both of the attacking ogres on fire several times, but either their flames were weak or the Ogremon were more powerful than most Ogremon because they did not seem to be badly injured or burned. They continued to attack, swinging their clubs wildly, smashing stones and bricks and leaving huge craters in walls and the ground.

Sora had taken Taichi (largely against his will) by the hand and run, dragging him behind her. They fled the square and the space where the fountain had been and ran into the depths of the town, hurrying between alleyways and over the rubble of destroyed buildings. There were, thankfully, no other people to be seen, injured or otherwise.

She paused for breath in the midst of an alley, leaning against a still-unharmed wall and breathing heavily. Behind them, they could hear the sounds of battle; stones and bricks being smashed, the roar of Greymon and the screech of Birdramon.

"What's that?" Taichi wondered, having turned back to face the direction from which they'd come. Some digimon was battling another in the sky, although they were too far away to be seen clearly from this distance. Instead, flashes of white light and dark energy slammed into each other in the sky like fireworks, sending out sparks of light when they met.

Sora turned her head to see for herself, but something else to the north caught her eye. "And that?" she questioned, for she could see tiny lights exploding on the hill above the town.

"It seems we're not the only ones doing battle," Taichi observed. "At least two other fights."

"Look out!" called a voice, and a large explosion above sent small pieces of rock raining down into the alleyway. This time, Taichi grabbed Sora by the hand and pulled her quickly out of danger.

"Maybe three battles," Sora observed, watching as the small though dangerous pieces of stone crashed into the ground where she had been standing only a moment before. "Who -? Oh! It's that green bug digimon again!"

It was indeed. The roof above was home to a battle between the mysterious green digimon and two ferocious Ogremon. Small bits of rubble rained down in to the alley below. "I think we might want to get out of this area," Taichi said, stepping back to avoid the shower of stone.

"And run from battle?" questioned the voice which had previously warned of danger. The young king whirled quickly to see who was speaking, and they saw a young man emerge from the shadows. One eye was on the battle above, the other watching them both. "The whole town is a battlefield now. The only place safe is back at the palace."

"Ken!" Sora realized, recognizing him almost immediately. "Then that - ?"

He nodded shortly before she had finished the question, turning to watch as the green bug digimon, undoubtedly his partner, battled a ferocious Ogremon, easily dodging the swings of his club.

Taichi turned his own eyes upward to watch the battle for a moment. "Do you know anything about who's behind this?" he questioned.

Ken shook his head, finally turning to face them both. "No," he answered, frowning deeply, his eyes briefly turning a shade darker than they had been before. "Someone of great power, but I don't know who."

"Not Demon?" Sora questioned. "No, we saw the one who's behind this, and he seemed to be a man…a wizard, I'd guess, but not Demon."

"Does not mean he was not an illusion," Ken told her, "but no, he was not. This is not his plan."

"Do you mean to say," Taichi interrupted before Sora could pose another inquiry, "that Demon is not an absolute ruler of the shadows?"

Ken shook his head, a dark expression in his eyes; perhaps sadness. "There is never absolute power, your majesty," he answered, frowning even deeper. "Especially when it comes to the Shadow World. There are many who would challenge him, who would take his power. He is strong, but that is temporary, and that doesn't mean some other digimon or human even might gain enough power to be stronger than Demon."

Sora turned slightly pale at the thought of a multitude of Shadow World digimon to fight, each one more powerful than the last. Before anything further could be said, however, a loud explosion sounded very close, and the side of a tall building was reduced to rubble.

"Is there a reason," Yamato called, emerging from the smoke of the battle, "why you are all standing around talking when there is obviously a war going on around you?" He was nearly soaked in sweat and a layer of dust and dirt coated his arms and face, giving his skin a slightly brownish-gray tint. He looked as though he had been fighting for some time, and only now did he sheathe his sword and wipe his brow.

Takeru, emerging from the dust behind his brother, looked only slightly better. He, too, was covered with a layer of rubble, though it was not so thick. "They're resting!" he told his brother. "I'd like to rest, too, except that you keep pulling me into battle!"

"If we do not fight them, they will keep coming!" the elder countered, turning to glare at his brother with a stern expression. "We must keep moving."

"It won't do any good," Ken stated in a calm voice, having turned his focus back toward the battle his partner was engaged in. Shocked more by the sight of him than the words, Yamato fell silent, and Takeru followed his gaze toward the rooftop of a nearby building. The green bug digimon who was his partner was still battling the Ogremon. Suddenly, the bug took to the air and attacked the ogre with a vicious attack. The Ogremon deleted into a thousand miniscule particles. A faint smile crossed Ken's face at his partner's success.

"This way!" called a voice from a different direction entirely, and the sounds of battle could be heard approaching. Takeru sighed at the thought of further fighting, and Yamato removed his sword again and prepared to face whatever enemies were approaching.

Miyako stumbled into the alleyway, almost tripping over the tattered hem of her skirt. She, too, was covered in dust and sweat, and her hair hung limp as though she had been doused in a three-day long downpour. Taking no notice of those around her, she pulled herself to her feet and took a few steps further, turning back to face whatever was behind her.

"Yah!" shouted a different voice, and a man, dressed entirely in black, with a black shroud obscuring all but his eyes, brought his sword down to attack her.

"No!" Sora gasped, but before the word had escaped her mouth, Shurimon was there, easily blocking the man's attack so that the sword clanked off of his star-shaped metallic hands.

Miyako took another few steps backward, still unaware of the others around her, eyes focused on her partner and his opponent. Thus, she was taken completely by surprise when Yamato, shouting a battle cry of his own, threw himself headfirst into the battle, unsheathing his sword again. Takeru was beside her a moment later, helping to steady her as she wobbled on her feet.

With a final sweep of his sword, Yamato stepped back and watched as the man fell to the ground and then disintegrated as though he were a digimon. Surprised by this manner of defeat, he stood still for a moment, his sword loosely gripped in his hand. "What - ?"

"As I suspected," Shurimon mumbled before a white light surrounded him and he de-evolved, becoming Hawkmon once more. "He wasn't really human. He moved too fast, with too much strength."

"No," Ken agreed, looking at the place where the man had disappeared. "Same as most of those digimon aren't really digimon."

"Illusions of dark magic," Takeru concluded, frowning. "That's why they all delete so strangely, right?" A nod was his answer.

"Damn it," Yamato muttered, sheathing his sword.

* * *

Immediately outside the palace, it seemed to Mimi as though they had entered a completely different world. Although she had observed the evidence of battles from the upper stories of the palace, it was quite a different thing to realize that only a short distance from the door, the town had been largely reduced to rubble. She understood now the frightened, tired, dirty faces of those who had come to take refuge in the palace and shivered despite the warmth.

It was quickly growing darker, and Mimi carried a lantern in one hand, stretching it away from her body to spread the light as far as possible. It formed a faintly yellow, glowing circle around them as they walked.

"All this for a crystal?" Palmon wondered, peering around her partner's skirts with big green eyes. "All this for one little rock?"

"It does seem a bit like overkill," Gomamon agreed from the doctor's shoulder where he was perched. "So much destruction…."

"No," Hikari said in answer to the question. "They found the crystal nearly an hour ago."

"Then this destruction is pointless?" Mimi asked, shivering.

"Not quite pointless," Tailmon replied. "This destruction is to destroy the Chosen and get the _rest_ of the crystals."

"Um…was it a wise idea to bring this one with me?" Jyou wondered, holding the rock in question in his hand.

Before this inquiry could be responded to, however, a dark figure emerged from within a cloud of smoke and dust that obscured the road above. In the few seconds it took for those present to realize that the figure was a man, dressed from head to toe in black, only dark eyes visible, it leapt into the air, sword drawn, blade glinting in the light from a nearby burning building. Mimi took in a gasp of air and moved a half-step backward, but neither Hikari nor Jyou had time to react.

Palmon did, however, and the sound of Mimi's scream of fright was partially obscured by the sound of her wailing digivice, and a split-second later the mostly harmless plant digimon was replaced by a huge cactus with red fighting gloves and an angry expression. The sword of the attacker bounced mostly harmlessly off one glove and the man leapt backward again.

"Who are you?" Jyou demanded when he'd worked out in his mind what had happened. He took a step forward, stepping between Mimi and the mysterious man. A sharp object of some sort had cut a slit in the leg of the stranger's pants, and a bit of red blood had trickled out to splatter on his thigh. A similar wound was on the right arm, evidence that someone or something had fought him before.

"It's no bother asking. He won't tell you anything," Hikari told him, her voice indicating that she was interested in something else entirely. She was already walking forward, seeming to pay no attention whatsoever to the man, and then he leapt again, this time aiming his attack toward Jyou.

Angered enough for the attack on her partner, Togemon stepped again in front of the swordsman and blocked the attack again. "If you're the one with the crystal and he's one of those after the crystal, then you might want to watch out," she advised the doctor. Then, she took a step forward and brought one fist down on the ground very near to where he had stood (though not quite near enough, for he dodged very quickly).

"Oh don't smash him flat!" Mimi called to her partner. "It'll be so…disgusting." She shivered. Gomamon stared at her with wide eyes for a moment and then shook his head.

"_I'll_ smash him flat," he said to his partner. "We can leave the mess to be cleaned up later. Let me…."

"Not yet," Jyou interrupted before Gomamon could finish his bloodthirsty plans. He was looking rather pale at the thought of the man's blood and guts being spread over the ground.

Hikari had taken a few steps forward, away from the fight, and was looking toward the town nearby, the buildings that could be seen in the dim light as dark shadows against a darker night. She had taken the sword with her, though she had taken care to sheath it before leaving, and carried it now over her shoulder. With her right hand she reached over her shoulder and touched the hilt as though to assure herself it was still there. Tailmon glanced up toward her partner with a questioning expression.

"At some point," Hikari said, speaking more to herself, "I need to stop watching and act."

"We could act now," Tailmon proposed, casually examining the sharp claws of her right paw. "I could probably take care of that one easily enough even now."

"Probably," her partner conceded, glancing back to see that once again the cactus digimon's fist had only narrowly missed the attacking swordsman. The ground shook, but only faintly, and only for a short time.

A sound from the opposite direction caught her ear however, and at the same time the feline digimon turned toward the noise. She twitched her ears and frowned, sniffing the air. "Blood."

Before Hikari could comment on this disturbing bit of information, the sound of metal clanking on metal could be heard, and the grunts of fighters breathing heavily in battle. After a moment, another man, dressed in the same black clothing as the last, leapt out of the dust and darkness and into the clear range of her vision. He, too, was badly wounded, with slash marks across his chest and arms that were far more vicious and dangerous and frequent than the wounds of the last one. A split second seemed to be the only recovery time the man allowed himself, however, and then he leapt back into the battle.

The sounds of sword upon sword were clearer now, however, and footsteps shuffling over dirt and grass. "Whose?" she asked of Tailmon, who was squinting her blue eyes into the darkness. "Whose blood?"

Before this question could be answered, the shout of the man's opponent broke through the relative quiet of the road, and the swordsman fell backward, taking a few running steps. He was breathing heavily now, and the blood was spilling from his wounds with more speed than before, coming in gushes rather than steady drips now.

After a few moments, his opponent became clear in the light of the lantern Mimi held. Although clearly not blessed with superhuman speed (as the black-clad swordsmen seemed to be), Daisuke was hot on the heels of the other, holding in one hand a sword of the same make as the man he chased.

A loud thud distracted Hikari, and she turned her head to see that the fist of Togemon had finally connected solidly with the swordsman. Thankfully, it did not smash the man into the ground, reducing him to a pancake like state, but connected at a more horizontal level, sending him flying into the darkness beyond. There was another thud as he slammed into something that was assumed to be the half-demolished wall of a building.

"Did you kill him?" Mimi questioned of her partner, who was squinting into the darkness. Togemon shrugged as best a cactus can.

"Don't know," she admitted.

"Whoa," Jyou breathed then, and Mimi and Hikari both followed his gaze in time to see the other swordsman disintegrate into nothing, deleting as a digimon might. Daisuke had apparently succeeded in wounding his opponent badly enough to defeat him. "He was a digimon?"

"I don't think so," Gomamon answered, shaking his head. "He was bleeding."

"Actual blood," Mimi put in. She glanced off into the darkness where the other had disappeared. "Do you suppose that one deleted in the same way?"

"Probably," Daisuke said, having heard the conversation. The fighting finished, he dropped the sword to the ground, and it too disappeared. "That's how the other one went."

"So there were three?" Tailmon questioned. "Where'd they come from? What are they?"

He shook his head, wiping some of the mud from his face. "Four, actually. They dropped out of the sky. Miyako said that she saw a portal open."

"Miyako?" Mimi interrupted before he could continue. "Where is she?"

"I thought they couldn't open a portal unless they had all the crystals?" Jyou put in.

V-mon emerged from the shadows at that moment. He, too, was covered in mud and dust, and was scratching at the back of his head with one claw, hoping that no insects had crawled into his ears. "Ick," he muttered to himself. "I'd really appreciate a bath."

"Not for a while, I don't think," Daisuke answered him with a sigh and sat down in the dirt beside him, feeling tired. He scratched at the top of his head. "I don't know where Miyako is. We were separated in the dark." He looked around, then, and got to his feet. "Let me see the lantern."

Mimi held it out, feeling a bit unprotected without it. "So – if they're not human, and they're not digimon, what are they?" she wondered, hugging herself.

"Dark magic," Hikari said, frowning. "It feels cold and…dark." She shivered. "What happened to Shijo?"

"He's around somewhere, I guess," Daisuke said, having moved the lantern around the immediate area and not turned up any signs of bodies nor boys. He sighed, frowning, and handed the lantern back to Mimi. "I told him to get out of the way if there was danger. Maybe he actually listened."

"What, _made_ of dark magic?" Jyou questioned, shaking his head. "I don't understand this magic stuff."

"I think so, yes," Hikari answered, frowning. "We need to find the others. Miyako will be with my brother. We'll find everyone else with him. All we need to do is find them."

There was silence for a few moments as everyone thought and looked around them, wondering which direction might be the best way to go. Overhead, the stars were coming in to view, and it would shortly be pitch black. None of them were particularly familiar with the town to navigate it in darkness. Distantly, they could see lights flashing in the sky, undoubtedly a battle of some sort progressing, but for the moment there were no explosions.

"I suppose it might sound silly," Jyou said, breaking the silence, "but perhaps the crystal they were looking for was hidden in the center of the town…."

"And so maybe if we go to the center of the town we'll find the others?" Gomamon finished. "Brilliant. I always knew you were the smart one, Jyou."

* * *

Sorry for the lack of new chapters lately. I haven't been in a good place for writing. The good news is that there's DEFINITELY only one of these left, and I plan to have it up in the next week. Then I think I'll take a week or two before I start on the next story, which I've already mostly finished in my head. Thanks to anyone who's stuck with this, I appreciate your reviews. 


	21. Imminent Demise

**The Crystal Gate**

**Part Twenty-One: **Imminent Demise

---------

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:** _Digimon,_ all related characters and such are not mine. Original characters (the few that there are) and the plot are MINE. Don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo.

----

After nearly a half-hour of shooting, Mummymon had disappeared amidst clouds of dust and smoke, obviously having caught on to the fact that Takeru and the crystal had gone south. Ankylomon had thought to chase after him, but the mummy was gone before he could take a single step.

Iori and Koushiro could see that the afternoon had not been a particularly peaceful one. Many of the buildings were missing entire walls or had large chunks smashed out of the side. From his perch above the city, Iori spotted the culprits – some Ogremon swinging their clubs, smashing a public fountain to bits. Turning his head to the left, he saw a mob of Gotsumon making similar work of a building.

"We should stop them," he muttered, and took step forward.

"Wait," the wizard interrupted, peering out across town as though seeing something or hearing something unnoticed without magic. "They're only the small things, Iori. We need to worry about the bigger things."

"What bigger things?" Iori questioned. "You don't mean Mummymon– ?"

Koushiro shook his head. "No, he's not the one planning all this. I feel a greater power in this town. We should go after _that_."

A few moments later, they were in the air, the wizard guiding his partner to head in the direction from which he had sensed the power. Ankylomon was plodding along behind them, easily brushing aside the Gotsumon who got in his way. Iori, holding on tightly, watched the ground below with longing, wondering if it would not have been wiser to travel on his partner's back. Amidst the rocks and rubble, he spotted a single human making his way through the town, the small blob of his digimon partner following after.

"Koushiro!" Iori called, shouting to be heard over the sound of the wind rushing in his ears and the buzzing of the wings. "Look down there!"

"Interesting," Koushiro noted. "He's the only person who seems to still be in this village. I don't know if it would do us any good, but let's go after him."

A short while later, Kabuterimon landed in the midst of the rubble and de-evolved, hovering at his partner's shoulder in the form of Tentomon once more. "Which way do we go now?" he wondered.

At that moment, the boy in question appeared from behind a building. "Here," he called. His hair was a disheveled mass, and his skin was covered with a few layers of dirt and dust from falling buildings. A few scratches marked his bare arms and there was a long cut on the top of his forehead, but otherwise he appeared to have no serious injuries. "You're Chosen, aren't you?"

Iori nodded, unsurprised, for Ankylomon, standing nearby, made this fact obvious. "Who are you?"

"I'm Shijo," the boy said, wiping some of the dust off his arm, an action that had little effect. "I was traveling with some of the others and we were separated."

"Shijo?" the Chosen echoed, wondering why this was familiar.

"The boy from the Motomiya?" Ankylomon asked, lowering his neck to get a better view of the boy. "Funny how you get mixed up in all this stuff all the time, isn't it? You were there when we fought Vamdemon."

"Motomiya?" Iori questioned, memory returned. "You were with Daisuke?"

He nodded again. "Yes, and we were separated when the Gotsumon fell out of the sky and attacked. I promised I would get out of the way in case of danger, so I did, but then it got dark…." He shrugged. "I've been trying to stay away from the Gotsumon."

"You seem to be the only person left in this city, except for the Chosen," Koushiro observed darkly. He turned his head in the same direction he had before. "And whoever it is that's the cause of all this."

-----------

At one point a fountain had stood in the center of town, but now it was reduced to rubble, and large chunks of rocks and stones littered the area between mostly-demolished buildings. A small fire had been built in the space, both for warmth and light.

Miyako had seated herself on a large block of stone and was examining a cut on her elbow, twisting her arm to see the damage from the correct angle. Takeru was sitting beside her, eyes watching his partner's battle in the skies while his older brother argued about fighting.

"You're not seriously thinking of giving up?" Yamato was saying, arms folded at his chest, eyes narrowed.

"No," Taichi answered, shaking his head. "Only on fighting these Gotsumon and Ogremon." He gestured above him to where Angemon and Lady Devimon were battling ferociously, their cries echoing in the empty stillness of the abandoned town. "There's something of greater power here. We should go after that."

"I agree," said a new voice, and all present turned to see Hikari enter the empty square, followed by Daisuke, Mimi, Jyou, and a tall green figure.

"You were in battle?" Sora questioned, noting the presence of Togemon.

"It was nothing," Togemon answered with a cactus-shrug. "A few guys that turned out to be not real."

Mimi shivered. "They were men…and yet they deleted like digimon."

Sora nodded. "Ken says they're made from dark magic, same as the digimon that deleted strangely. We saw one here…it disintegrated into nothing, and yet it was bleeding before that."

"You sure you're not hurt?" Taichi was asking Hikari, having paid little attention to the rest of the conversation. He noted the weapon she had strapped on to her back. "Why did you bring that?"

"I thought it might be necessary," she answered with a shrug.

--------------

Rubble covered the streets, making it very difficult to navigate, greatly slowing their progress. It made no difference to Ankylomon, who simply stepped over it all, or Tentomon, who flew over it all, but the humans had a tough time and were sometimes obliged to climb over taller chunks of rock. Agumon, who was by far the worst climber of them all, sometimes had to be carried and lifted over pieces, and Shijo mumbled that he might have been pleased if his partner had waited to evolve, because as Koromon he had not been so heavy.

They paused to rest atop a large chunk of stone, breathing heavily while Ankylomon waited patiently for them to catch up. The town was eerily quiet, with the exception of the sounds of distant battles and crumbling rocks. No one spoke, for a while as they rested.

After a few moments, Koushiro lifted his head and squinted into the dark evening. He curled his fingers into a fist, extinguishing the small flame that he had been carrying in his hand, and gestured to the others to remain quiet. Iori hesitated a moment and then followed him to the half-destroyed wall of a building. Crouching low, they peered over it and saw three dark shapes standing nearby.

At first glance they appeared human, but Iori and Koushiro had seen Mummymon, a powerful digimon that at first glance seemed a harmless, gangly man with a sadistic sense of humor. It was hard to make out any features in the darkness, and so they waited and listened.

"It's not possible," a woman's voice was saying in a hushed tone. She sounded frustrated and angry. "The idiots shouldn't have that much power. It shouldn't have been this difficult to get the damned things."

"Maybe it's not so much their brilliance as _your _incompetence," a man's voice returned. He made no attempt to lower his voice, but spoke clearly, in a smooth, refined tone, showing no hint of anger or frustration.

"If I'm so incompetent, do it yourself!" the woman snapped, and a burst of giggles came from the third, previously silent participant. "As though you've had any more success, fool!"

"My dear, I'm no less incompetent than you are," the third voice said, and it took Iori a moment to recognize the mummy as he was speaking rather than cackling insanely.

His words did not seem placated the woman, and the sounds of scuffling persisted for a few moments before the man interrupted the bickering. "Obviously you've underestimated the powers of the Chosen," he said, and at his words both the sorceress and the mummy fell silent. "We must summon more assistance."

"To do that, we'll need at least one more crystal," the sorceress reminded him in a cold, clipped tone of voice. "Have you some brilliant plan for wrenching the last three of them from their fingers?"

"Obviously, the best way would be to kill the ones who possess the crystals," the man replied dryly, "but you seem to have been incapable of doing that as well."

"As I said, do it yourself if you think I'm so useless," the woman retorted.

"Perhaps I will," the man answered. Iori listened intensely, afraid to move.

The ground grew suddenly cold beneath his feet, so cold that he could feel it through the soles of his boots and the bones of his feet. It traveled upward through his legs and his stomach and his chest and down through his arms once more. Before long, he found that the intense cold was unbearable; he couldn't move. He thought he could hear distant screaming, and he struggled to lift his arms and block the sound from his ears. When he managed to do so, however, the sound did not fade in the slightest, and he realized that it was coming from his mind.

_Some further evidence of a connection between us?_ he wondered, thinking of Takeru and the crystal he held. Was the voice he heard in his mind Takeru? Then the voice halted and he could hear laughter from outside rather than inside his head.

"You see?" the wizard was saying, a gloating tone to his voice. "It is not so hard as you would have believed, you fools. You simply haven't the power that I have."

-------------------------  
"Necessary?" Taichi echoed, staring at his sister with wide eyes. "Necessary for what? You intend to use it?"

Though he was not far from the fire, Takeru felt a shiver run through his body. He looked down at his hands, for they were suddenly very cold. His head felt light; the world blurred around him. Though he could hear Hikari's voice, he couldn't make out any words.

"Takeru?" Miyako asked, sitting nearest to him. The ground was shaking, or maybe it was only his body. He thought he saw a flash of light, and he shut his eyes. His stomach churned. The cold was intense, immobilizing. A sharp pain appeared in the palm of his hand – the space the crystal had cut through his skin. Distantly, he thought he heard someone screaming, and it was only when he felt his throat turn sore that he realized it was his own voice.

Then, it was gone, his hands empty and with no fresh blood, the pain and the cold having passed. He opened his eyes and saw a few faces blurrily swim before him. Yamato was holding him by the shoulders, shaking him, a panicked expression on his face. "Takeru!"

"I'm…all right," Takeru managed to say, and then his stomach told him it might be best not to say anything more if he didn't want to lose the last thing he had eaten. His head was pounding behind his eyes, and he shut them again.

"You don't look all right. You look like you're half dead," Yamato returned.

He felt it too, but it still didn't seem safe to talk, so he didn't say anything. Breathe, he thought, and concentrated on that for a few moments, listening to the quiet sound of his breath go in and out. Overhead, he was aware that Angemon was still fighting, and he breathed a brief sigh of relief that he had not been forced to de-evolve.

"What happened?" Mimi questioned in a voice close to a whisper. Somewhere behind her, a wall collapsed with a violent shudder, and the sound of the crash echoed in Takeru's head for a few moments.

"They took the crystal," Ken noted quietly, a very faint hint of sympathy in his voice. "It looks like it was painful to be separated from it."

Painful, Takeru thought, was an understatement. The world swam around him, his stomach churned, and he shut it once more, still not feeling as though it was safe to speak.

"It's because he was connected to it more than was intended," Hikari said then. "The magic bound it to him more securely than the others. He would have been able to harness its power."

"That's why they took it from _him_?" Miyako asked. "To eliminate a threat while gaining a weapon?"

"That was probably their intention," she answered, "but…."

"He's not dead," Yamato muttered. Takeru opened one eye, startled by the sound of anger in his brother's voice. "They didn't eliminate him."

"No," Hikari agreed, sounding pleased, "and Angemon didn't de-evolve."

"That seems astonishing," Jyou muttered, having placed on hand on Takeru's forehead. "He's got a fever. I'd think that would be enough."

-------------------------  
"Iori?" Koushiro was saying, and Iori opened eyes he hadn't realized he'd closed and saw the face of the wizard swim into view.

"I'm fine," he managed to say, and he realized it was true. He got to his feet, shakily, and looked around it to see that the three he had been watching had disappeared. "They're gone?"

"They disappeared after the ground stopped shaking," the wizard replied. "They managed to obtain another crystal. Are you sure you're all right?"

"I'm fine," he said with more conviction than before. "Takeru…."

Koushiro stared at him, and Tentomon came closer. "Do you mean to say that it was _his_ crystal that was stolen?" the insect digimon questioned.

"And that you felt this?" the wizard added.

Iori rubbed his eyes. "I think so. I think we'd better get to the others."

Before he could take any steps, however, the ground shook once again. Feeling his footing grow unsteady, Iori dropped to the ground. Not too far away, he could see that Ankylomon was shielding Shijo and Agumon from any falling rocks. Then, a dark figure obscured his view.

Iori looked up to see that the dark wizard was standing before him, looking down at him with an expression of controlled anger. He was tall, towering over Iori, and dressed in a long black cloak that danced in the wind at his feet. "Interesting," he said, a vague smile passing over his pale-skinned face. His eyes, dark as coals, were pure anger, however.

Ankylomon bounded forward, the ground quaking beneath his feet, and was a step behind the wizard in an instant. "Iori!" he called.

"I'm fine," Iori said, getting to his feet. "Who are you? What do you want?"

The vague smile grew slightly. He looked up, eyes traveling beyond Iori to rest on Koushiro, who stood a few paces back, and his partner. "Do you know?" he questioned. "Or are your senses too weak to determine this?"

"I know you have dark magic," Koushiro answered calmly, his voice the sound of serenity, his eyes narrowed. "Are you a pawn of Demon as well?"

The smile disappeared; the eyes grew darker. "I am no pawn of that fool. I have far greater power. You are now in the presence of the last great dark wizard of his own power."

"The last?" Tentomon echoed. "Well, that's a relief."

The dark wizard's eyes grew narrow, and he waved an arm. A great gust of wind blasted across the space, scattering small stones. The insect digimon wisely took shelter behind his partner, who threw up an arm to shield his face, and then a magical shield when the wind became stronger. Iori, having no such protection, crawled forward past the dark wizard. Past him, the wind was gone, and Iori scurried toward his partner.

The dark wizard broke off his attack and raised one arm over his head. After a moment, Iori saw that a ball of light was gathering in his hand and that small sparks were extending from the ball. "I think we might want to get clear of this," he told his partner. "If that's possible."

Koushiro did not seem to be formulating a counter attack of any sort, but was simply watching his opponent with an expression of mild interest. Briefly, his gaze darted toward Iori, and then back to the dark wizard.

The dark wizard threw back his arm and then heaved the ball of light and sparks. Iori turned away from the battle, not wanting to see what happened when the ball of sparks hit the ground, or worse, hit Koushiro.

"Let's go," he called to his partner, climbing aboard. Without hesitation, Ankylomon took off at a run. They reached Shijo and Agumon at the same instant that a huge explosion sounded behind them, and Iori hurriedly pulled the boy and his partner aboard. He glanced back only briefly and saw a cloud of smoke rising from the ground.

"Look!" Shijo said then, and they saw that Tentomon had evolved again. The smoke was clearing slightly, but even larger clouds were forming in its place, and flashes of lightning and sparks could be seen. "Shouldn't you help him?"

"I don't think that I would be much help to him," Iori confessed, glancing back through the smoke. He could see little, however, except for rolling clouds of smoke.

-----------------  
It's finished, but this last part is far too long to be one chapter. Last part will be up tomorrow. Sorry for the insanely long delay, thanks for reading.


	22. Collaboration

**The Crystal Gate**

**Part Twenty-two: **Collaboration

------

**Standard Disclaimer Thingie:** _Digimon_ is not mine. Plot is. Don't steal, don't sue, don't forget to moo.

Moo.

----

A blast of lightning slammed into the ground, followed shortly by another bolt, sending dust clouds into the air and obscuring everything for a few moments. Takeru got to his feet, working hard to keep himself from losing the contents of his stomach. Crackling bolts of light and electricity were hitting the ground all around, and he came to the suddenly frightening realization that if he was unlucky enough to be struck by one of those bolts, he'd probably feel far worse than he did at the moment. He spared a brief glance upward to see that his partner was still battling Lady Devimon. All around him, he could hear the sounds of activated digivices, and then he spotted a dark shadow coming toward him.

"Bone Club!" shouted a growling voice, and he was able to clearly make out the shape of an Ogremon coming every closer to him.

"Not so fast," said a deep, commanding voice, and the green bug digimon that was Ken's partner stepped in front of the Ogremon, easily blocking his attack.

The ogre roared his frustration and tried swinging his fist rather than his club toward the bug's face. Again, the bug blocked the attack, and now he swung his own fist into the stomach of the Ogremon. "Spiking Finish!" he called out, and Takeru spotted a sharp spike emerging from the fist and burying itself into the ogre, which deleted, screaming in pain.

Takeru felt his head spin with questions more than dizziness, but he shoved them aside in the heat of battle, aware that it would be best to focus. The dust was fading swiftly, revealing a crowd of at least twenty Ogremon and twice as many Gotsumon. A few Bakemon were floating in the midst. Standing near them was the sorceress, Arachnemon.

She was tall and thin, dressed as always in a long, sleeveless red dress, a hat of the same shade atop her head. Her eyes were covered with a pair of dark-tinted glasses, and her hair, white and silvery, fell down past her shoulders. With one gloved hand she was twirling a few strands in a deceptively simple and unassuming manner.

Neither Ken nor his partner wasted time with words, and the bug launched himself through the air, wings buzzing furiously. Arachnemon laughed as though she thought the whole thing quite amusing and effortlessly leapt back. "I'm afraid you still aren't strong enough to defeat me on your own, little boy," she said in a sing-song voice, grinning.

"How about with my help?" a different voice questioned. "X Laser!"

A blast of white light hit the sorceress head on, causing her to fall back a few steps. She sat down hard, and then, gritting her teeth and clenching her fists, got to her feet. "Even then, you're no match!" she shouted, her carefree attitude suddenly disappearing.

A dark haze had settled over the sorceress, and as they watched, long red horns grew from the space where her ears should have been. The sunglasses disappeared and her eyes grew wide and huge in her face, as it expanded to include a vicious, hungry smile. Her arms grew longer and her fingers and hands stretched until they were long claws. The torso and legs expanded, and from the wide torso she now grew four more long, pointed legs, each blood-red in color.

She was no longer human-looking, but instead had taken on the ferocious form of a huge spider. "And now," she said, her voice deeper and more menacing than before. "You have no hope of survival!"

Takeru became aware that his mouth had fallen open and his eyes were wide. "Whoa…," he breathed.

"Get back!" the green bug digimon shouted, waving one arm toward his partner. "You're too close!"

"There's no use trying to run!" Arachnemon shouted. "Spider Thread!"

Her long hair spread out, growing ever longer and longer, until the sticky mass had spread over the ground of the entire square. Takeru tried to lift his legs and found that he was stuck to the ground, unable to move.

"Who's running?" Ken demanded, and Takeru found that he was hearing this question in stereo, for someone else was shouting the same thing.

"Stingmon evolve!" called the bug digimon, and at the same time….

"XV-mon evolve!"

There was a bright light that blinded everyone present for a few moments. "Paildramon!" shouted a new voice – perhaps two voices at once.

"Don't waste any time!" Daisuke was shouting, and Takeru turned his head and saw that he was glaring toward the massive spider, fists clenched at his side, leaning forward as he fought against the sticky web.

"Get rid of her!" Ken shouted a moment later, and Takeru turned the opposite direction and saw that he had adopted almost the same pose.

"No problem," Paildramon responded. "Desperado blaster!"

A bright blue light sped through the air, and slammed full force into the spider sorceress, forcing her to take a few shaky steps backward. She shrieked in pain, but did not appear to be too badly harmed. Spreading her two front claws wide, she shouted, "Spider Thread!"

The web spread wide, the sticky threads engulfing the ground so that even the army of Gotsumon and Ogremon was unable move. Takeru turned and saw that the others were behind him, the smoke having cleared entirely now, also struggling against the sticky thread.

"Excellent," said a different voice. Mummymon was standing on a safe pedestal that had once been part of a building. "It's so easy to hit a target when it's standing still." He hefted his weapon at his side and began to fire.

"Mega Flame!" called the loud, commanding voice of Greymon, and a massive ball of fire slammed into the mummy.

"Takes more than that!" Mummymon shouted, apparently unharmed, and then the air was full of tiny explosions as he fired his weapon once more.

"Prickly Bang Bang!" Togemon shouted, and a thousand tiny needles collided with a thousand tiny bombs. Small splashes of light appeared in the air. A few needles reached the mummy, but he appeared to be unharmed by the attack.

"Unbelievable!" Yamato half-screamed in frustration. "What kills this guy?"

"Nothing!" the mummy replied, laughing. He fired his weapon once more, causing all present to duck for cover. They could not run, for the web was too sticky, but they could duck low and avoid it as best they could.

Suddenly, the explosions halted, and a pained cry could be heard as Ankylomon slammed his heavy, armored tail into his back, sending Mummymon flying into the ground. "What the?" he demanded.

"Are you ready?" Angemon called from the sky.

"Ready whenever you are!" Ankylomon replied, having allowed his passengers to disembark. "Ankylomon evolve!"

"Angemon evolve!"

"Shakkoumon!"

Again, the light was blinding, and when it had faded, the powerful, mostly mechanical, armored form of Shakkoumon stood on the ground not far from Mummymon. He seemed to be largely unaffected by the sticky webs covering the ground. Undaunted, Mummymon got to his feet, parts of his bandages remaining behind, stuck to the webs as he stepped forward and hefted his weapon.

For a few moments the sound of his weapon firing was all that could be heard, and then came the sound of the bullets bouncing, uselessly off the impenetrable armor of Shakkoumon.

"Harmonious Spirit!" Shakkoumon intoned with a voice of power. His claw-like hands spun rapidly in their sockets, and emitted a powerful white light which shot forth and slammed into the mummy, sending him flying. With a loud thud, he slammed into the side of a building and fell silent.

The triumph was short lived, however, for almost before Mummymon had hit the wall another attack came from the sky. "Darkness Wave!" shouted Lady Devimon, and the night air became even blacker. Shakkoumon was forced backward, legs scraping loudly on the stones of the courtyard. Unable to take to the skies to defeat her, the armor-covered digimon was apparently at a disadvantage.

"Desperado Blaster!" shouted Paildramon, and once more his attack connected solidly with the spider. For all the power of this attacks, however, she seemed unaffected, and periodically sprayed even more of the sticky webs out. Though this attack only halted Paildramon for a few moments before he was able to break through, it was still a setback.

"This doesn't seem to be working," Mimi muttered. "Let's help. Togemon?"

"Right," the cactus answered, nodding. "Prickly Bang Bang!" A barrage of spines flew from the tall green digimon and connected solidly with the spider. Though she moaned in pain, Arachnemon easily removed the spines from her body.

"Spider Thread!" she called, and Togemon found her arms bound to her sides by the sticky substance. While she struggled against the bindings, Greymon forced a mighty foot claw from the sticky ground and stepped forward.

"Together?" he suggested, glancing upward, toward where Birdramon was hovering, unaffected, in the sky. "Mega Flame!"

"Meteor Wing!" the flaming bird shouted at the same moment, and a barrage of fire hit the spider from two directions. Miraculously, some of the sticky thread around her was destroyed, burning to a crisp and flaking into pieces, but Arachnemon was still largely unharmed.

"She's too powerful," Sora gasped, shaking her head. "If all of this does no damage…."

"It's too early to give up," Yamato disagreed. "Look, the fire broke the spider webs. That means…." He turned toward his partner, who nodded, and breathed hot blue flame on to the space around their feet. The threads disintegrated into nothingness. Relieved, Takeru moved to where he would be less likely to be damaged by one of her swinging claws.

From the edge of the battlefield came a shout that caught Miyako's attention. When she turned, she could see Iori hurrying through the clouds of dust and the darkness, feet now freed from the webs, paying little attention to the fighting raging on nearby. Even from a distance, she could see that he was in a hurry, and that he was obviously upset.

"We need more power," Taichi muttered through clenched teeth. He glanced up at his partner. "Do you think…?"

"If you can do it, I can do it," the dinosaur digimon's booming voice replied. "I'm ready."

"I'm ready, too," Birdramon said before Sora could ask. The sound of squealing digivices and bright lights blazing filled the area.

"Greymon evolve! Metal Greymon!" The already large orange dinosaur grew a pair of large, ferocious wings. Armor covered his chest and snout, and one arm became metallic and mechanical, thousands of times sharper and stronger than his already dangerous ordinary claws.

"Birdramon evolve! Garudamon!" In place of the fiery bird, there was now a tall, powerfully muscled bird covered in feathers rather than flames, with huge wings that would block the sun when spread to their full span. "Let's go!" the giant bird called, taking to the air.

"Giga Destroyer!" called Metal Greymon, and the armored plating on his chest opened in order to launch a set of missiles. They slammed into Arachnemon, and the sounds of the spider crying in pain could be heard.

"Shadow Wing!" cried Garudamon, and the sky grew darker than before for a moment. A gust of strong wind, strong enough to root whole trees from the ground, blew through the half-destroyed town and caused the giant spider to slide backward in the dirt, her powerful claws floundering about to get a hold of the ground.

"The dark…wizard…," Iori gasped out, panting heavily, stumbling to a stop a few steps from Miyako. Without pausing to breathe, he plunged on, speaking hurriedly. "Koushiro…he's…magic…help him!"

"Slow down," Miyako advised. "What's going on?"

Before he could answer, however, the sky was suddenly lit up and the ground shook as a huge bolt of lightning slammed into the ground. The form of a huge beetle-like digimon could be seen amidst the smoke and dust that rose up in billowing clouds.

The sound of three successive explosions behind them caused another cloud of dust to rise, and for a few moments it was impossible to see. "I think...," Mimi called over the noise, "…that might have done it!"

"Don't be so sure," Togemon warned.

"No, I'm pretty sure she's gone," Sora said, squinting through the fog. "I don't know if that's because she ran away or…."

"Or if she was actually destroyed," Taichi finished. "_I'd_ guess that she ran."

"She's not what we should worry about," Hikari said, pointing toward the massive beetle that had appeared in the opposite direction. "I think what Iori is trying to say is that Koushiro is battling the one behind all this."

"On his own?" Miyako gasped, glancing toward Iori.

"Yes!" Iori answered, breathlessly, nodding. "Help…!"

"I think we can do that," Hawkmon said, glancing toward his partner. Miyako nodded, and the sound of squealing digivice announced his evolution. "Hawkmon evolve! Aquilamon!"

"Bone Club!" called three ferocious Ogremon in unison and, now that Arachnemon and Mummymon had disappeared, they leapt forward, their huge clubs waving and swinging.

"Fox Fire!" called Garurumon, stepping between the monstrous ogres and his partner. Togemon stepped forward and delivered a solid punch to the face of two separate ogres.

"Darkness Wave!" came the voice of Lady Devimon, and the sound of metal grating on stone could be heard as Shakkoumon was forced backward by the attack.

"Desperado Blaster!" shouted Paildramon, but this attack didn't seem to have much effect. With a flick of her hand, another wave of darkness sent the combined digimon flying, tumbling head over heels and crashing into a half-demolished building in a cloud of dust.

"No!" shouted two voices at once, but before either Daisuke or Ken could make a move, they found that the Bakemon, who had previously been few in number, hovering at the edge of the square, had suddenly multiplied and moved in, surrounding them.

"Harmonious Spirit!" called Shakkoumon, sending a blast of white light through the ghostly digimon crowds. Though they dispersed momentarily, none deleted, and they immediately returned when it was safe to do so.

"Darkness Wave!" called Lady Devimon once more, causing the armored digimon to take a step backward. The Bakemon moved, closing the crowded circle tighter.

Mimi shivered, stepping away, but immediately found another ghost in every direction that she turned. Their white faces and big, black eyes stared at her, and she took shelter behind Togemon.

"Prickly Bang Bang!" called Togemon, sending a burst of sharp needles into the crowd. When this tactic failed to work, the large cactus punched and kicked at the ghosts, sending a few of them flying, but doing little to discourage the rest.

"Fox Fire!" shouted Garurumon, and a few of the ghosts caught fire. As before, however, this seemed to have little effect on them. Rapidly, the fire began to spread through the crowd of ghosts, so that soon it was as bright as day.

"That's not good," Yamato muttered, watching the fire spreading through the crowd of ghosts. "How do we stop these things!"

"If we set them all on fire," Sora theorized, "they might eventually delete, right?"

"Eventually," Taichi agreed, "but _we_ might be on fire, too."

There was a rustling noise from within the crowd, and then, as one, a whispery voice came from the Bakemon. "Hell's Hand," rasped the ghosts and a thousand, mummified, rotting arms came out from the white sheets.

"Shadow Wing!" called Garudamon, and a burst of wind blasted aside a large section of the crowd before the attack could do any damage.

"Fox Fire!" called Garurumon, the force of his claws aiding in his attack as he swept a few away. Yamato drew his sword once more and sliced a few grisly hands off before they could do harm.

"Get back," Miyako advised, and raised a shield around herself, Hikari, and Iori, who were standing nearest to her. The arms of the Bakemon collided harmlessly with the invisible wall.

"You can't hold that forever," Aquilamon reminded her. "Blast Laser!"

Surprisingly, this attack, a blast of powerful red light, pierced through the center of a ghastly hand and then through the sheet of the Bakemon attached to it, thus causing the ghost to delete.

"Impressive," Tailmon noted. "Now do that about a thousand times."

"Maybe not _that _many times," Hikari stated, frowning in thought. She removed then the sword that she had been carrying on her back and drove it into the ground. Planting her feet for support, she placed both hands on either side of the hilt and shut her eyes.

"Hikari? What are you - ?" Miyako began, but broke off, seeing that a pale glow had appeared around Hikari.

As Miyako and Iori looked on, the glow grew to a more intense white light and then spread out over the ground beneath the Bakemon. The ghostly digimon began to moan and cry out in pain, and those closest to Hikari deleted immediately. As the light spread out across the town center, more and more of the Bakemon deleted – some directly upon contact with the light and some as a result of that combined with the fire.

"Whoa," was all that Iori could manage to say. The light faded, and now the crowds of Bakemon were mostly gone, save for a few small pockets which were greatly weakened.

"Are you all right?" Miyako questioned, lowering the shield. "That was…."

"Impressive," said a voice, all turned to see the dark wizard standing nearby. "It will not be enough to stop me, however."

Not bothering to waste time with words, Metal Greymon opened fire on the dark wizard immediately. "Giga Destroyer!"

The huge missile collided with an invisible wall, which rose into the air almost immediately.

"Harmonious Spirit!" called Shakkoumon, and this attack had slightly more of an effect, for although it did not pierce the shield, it did force the dark wizard to step back, feet scraping against the dusty ground.

"I'm afraid that still won't be enough," the wizard said, brushing his long, greasy dark hair from his face with a swipe of his hand. "I'm simply too powerful for you, you see. Now then," and now he raised both hands above his head, "witness the power of a true dark wizard!"

The ground shook and the sky opened up, causing a score or more of red lightning bolts to slam into the ground, shaking the ground even more. Miyako quickly raised a shield once more, but was aware even as she did so that she would not be able to protect all the Chosen. Turning, she saw that Shakkoumon and the other evolved digimon were doing their best to shield Taichi, Sora, Yamato, Mimi, and Jyou. Another strange white light, similar though not as strong as the one Hikari had produced, had formed a shell around Takeru, Daisuke, and Ken.

"Who - ?" Miyako wondered, but Hikari only smiled.

"Takeru," she said, nodding. "He's finally learned to trust the magic."

"I thought it was only the crystal that could do that," Iori said, eyes wide. "It's gone now, isn't it?"

Before this question could be answered, a blast of white, ordinary-looking lightning slammed directly into the center of the dark wizard, throwing him into the dirt and knocking him out for a few moments. It was not difficult to determine the source of this attack, for an enormous beetle-like digimon, crackling with energy, stood not far away. At his feet stood Koushiro, looking tired, his clothes tattered, but with a determined sort of expression.

"Koushiro!" Miyako and Iori called in unison, and Iori breathed a sigh of relief, for he was beginning to think the worst. Ignoring the danger, Iori quickly ran to help, and the others soon followed, taking advantage of a momentary pause in battle whilst the dark wizard recovered.

"I'm fine," Koushiro said dismissively, waving aside concerns with a casual hand. "I'm afraid I'm not much a match for him, though."

"Don't say that!" Iori scolded, thinking Koushiro was merely being modest, but he shook his head.

"He's a dark wizard," he explained, with a grave sort of expression on his face. "My sort of magic isn't the right sort to stop him."

"What do we do?" Mimi wanted to know.

"We have to use the right sort of magic," Takeru answered. "Right?"

"Yes," Koushiro answered, nodding, "and you need to stop his partner."

"His…partner?" Mimi echoed blankly. "There's no…."

"Isn't there?" Sora said, then, glancing back toward where the dark wizard was easily defending himself against the attacks of the numerous digimon. Not far from where he lay, Lady Devimon had landed, and was staring in the direction of the Chosen with a murderous sort of expression.

"You mean_ she's_ - ?" Yamato said, eyes wide. "How is that - ?"

"Wait," Miyako said, interrupting before he could finish the question. "Lady Devimon appeared after he obtained the second crystal, right?"

"I think so," Sora answered, nodding.

"That is, after the portal had opened," she continued.

"Wait," Iori interrupted. "You're saying that Lady Devimon was in the shadow world?"

"And she came through the portal to this world when he opened the portal?" Yamato added. "Why would he…how could he have been separated from his partner for so long?"

"And yet she's still at a very high level," Taichi put in, frowning in thought.

"That _does_ explain why he wanted to open a portal to the shadow world," Tailmon muttered. "Why he wanted the crystals."

Before anything further could be said, a Darkness Wave sent by Lady Devimon blasted past Metal Greymon and Garudamon, causing both of them to crash into the ground and de-evolve to Agumon and Piyomon once more. The wave continued onward, toward the spot where the Chosen had gathered. Miyako prepared to raise a shield, but before she could, Takeru stepped forward, holding up a hand.

"Let me," he said, and then the Darkness Wave was upon them, split in half like a river when it finds a stone in its path, forced to alter its course. Behind them, the force of the darkness slammed into two mostly-destroyed buildings with an impressive amount of force. Takeru lowered his hand, dimly aware of a distant sense of weariness and the wide-eyed stares of the others. In the back of his mind was the same disbelieving, astonished feeling, but he silenced it.

"That's it," Koushiro said, nodding. "That's exactly what you'll need."

Takeru shook his head. "I don't know how to…," he began.

"I do," Hikari answered, once again pulling the sword she carried from its space on her back.

"Harmonious Spirit!" called Shakkoumon, and a blast of white light sent Lady Devimon fleeing to the skies, out of reach. The dark wizard raised a barrier shield around him, deflecting the attack in much the way that Takeru had. Miyako could almost see the anger in his eyes.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Taichi questioned of his sister, glancing nervously toward the pile of rubble in which Agumon had landed. "Do you have the strength to do that again?"

"Without exhausting yourself, that is," Sora added.

"Darkness Wave!" shrieked Lady Devimon, her anger and frustration clear. A split second later, Shakkoumon called out his attack, and a blue-white light collided with the black wave.

At almost the exact moment, a third voice cried out, "Desperado Blaster!" and a darker shade of blue light collided with the black wave from a different angle. A massive explosion occurred, filling the air with smoke.

"What the - ?" Yamato shouted over the sound of debris falling. "I can't see a damned thing!" He threw up his hands to shield his face, and then turned his body away from the smoke. The others were doing the same thing. Mimi coughed, having inhaled some of the smoke.

"I don't think we have much time!" Takeru shouted over the commotion. "You'd better do it now!"

As the smoke spread, it became more difficult to see. The sounds of battle, of distant explosions and other thuds and crashes, could be heard nearby. Despite the smoke beginning to see her eyes, Hikari drove the sword into the ground. Immediately, the magic began to spread, clearing away some of the smoke and traveling through the ground across the clearing. It was obvious, however, that the glow was of less intensity than before.

_She's _not_ strong enough to do it again,_ Takeru thought, and stepped forward, placing both his hands on the hilt of the sword. He shut his eyes, preparing for something, and then felt the same distant, strange weariness once more.

Almost immediately, the glow of magic grew brighter and began to spread faster. The sound of screaming echoed in the empty, half-destroyed town. Slowly, the smoke began to recede, and then the glow of magic faded until there was only the light of fires burning and the moon above to see by.

"Hikari?" Taichi questioned, squinting through the darkness.

At almost the same time, Yamato, voice only slightly quieter than a frantic scream, called, "Takeru!"

They seemed fine, although Hikari had fallen down to her knees beside the sword and Takeru was drenched with sweat.

"Did that work?" Iori questioned, squinting through the smoke and the dim lighting.

"Maybe…," Mimi said hopefully.

"It doesn't look like it," Sora said after a moment, pointing to a dark something hovering in the air nearby. Although it was hard to make out features in the darkness, the shape was undoubtedly that of Lady Devimon.

"I don't understand," Miyako said, shaking her head. "Why wasn't that enough? That was the right sort of magic, wasn't it?"

Koushiro was shaking his own head, frowning in thought. "I don't know, I don't know," he answered rubbing at the bridge of his nose with two fingers as though he were developing a headache. "I know too little about dark magic."

The sound of laughter – gleeful, triumphant, slightly insane laughter – came from the ground then, the laughter of the dark wizard. Though his cloak was torn and his clothing was covered with dust and dirt, he appeared mostly unharmed. "As I said, fools! You aren't strong enough to beat me! Give me the remaining crystals and I might spare your lives!"

"Not a chance!" Daisuke shouted across the space. He had taken his crystal from his pocket and was holding it in his hand now, quite determined that no one and nothing was to take it from him.

Jyou, the possessor of the other crystal, was seeing to Hikari and Takeru, but his partner Gomamon answered this question on the doctor's behalf. "Eat dirt, jerk!"

Unsurprisingly, this remark greatly angered the dark wizard. He raised his arms over his head, collecting his magic. The air grew dark around him, even to ordinary sight, and colder. The wind gained strength and power and blew through the area, scattering debris, dust, and small stones. Lady Devimon added to this attack, sending a wave of darkness across the area once more.

"Harmonious Spirit!" cried Shakkoumon, and his attack diverted the darkness away from the humans. The rest of the wave collided with the ruins of a building and sent even more debris and dust into the air.

"Maybe he's right," Hikari said, only loud enough so that Takeru could hear her over the sound of the roaring wind and the explosion of the building. "Maybe we're simply not strong enough to beat him."

"No," Takeru answered, raising his voice. "That's not true. We _can_ stop him, we _have_ to."

"Desperado Blaster!" called Paildramon, and this attack slammed into the side of the female devil digimon, causing her to fall back a bit. She didn't crash to the ground, however.

"Prickly Bang Bang!" Togemon stated, and a few trillion needles flew through the air toward the dark wizard, forcing him to halt his attack of cold wind to shield himself. Although none of the spines pierced his barrier and connected with the target, the wind stopped for the moment.

"He _is_ right," Ken said then, startling Takeru, who had forgotten he was there at all. "You don't have enough to kill him. You have to send him back where he came from."

"Where he came from?" Takeru echoed, but Hikari seemed to know what he was talking about.

"I don't know if I could do that," she confessed, shaking her head. "Not without…."

"I could," Ken interrupted, and when she looked toward him she saw that his eyes had narrowed into an expression of determination. She didn't ask any further questions, and simply nodded.

"Wait a minute," Miyako interrupted before Takeru could say the same thing. "Send him where? Do what?"

"To the shadow world," Koushiro stated, nodding his approval. "It's the best solution."

"How do we get him there?" Takeru demanded. "The only time we've ever been there," and here he glanced toward Hikari, "was by accident!"

"The only time _you've_ been there," Ken answered, looking toward the dark wizard, eyes seeming to see something completely different. "I, however…."

"You can open a portal?" Miyako interrupted before he could finish. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

Ken was silent for a few moments before finally turning to face her. He shrugged, as though the matter was of little importance to him. "You have a better idea?" he questioned. Miyako didn't answer, but nor did she seem pleased with his plan.

"It's an excellent idea," Koushiro stated, once again nodding in agreement. "If you could open a portal, and keep the portal open long enough for an attack to force both the dark wizard and Lady Devimon _through_ the portal..."

"I could," Ken replied.

"Then let's do it," Takeru stated, nodding.

Togemon let out a cry as a loud explosion sent a strong gust of wind and a large amount of debris through the air. Over the sound of the strong, cold wind, a thud could be heard as the giant cactus slammed into the ground some distance away. A pale white glow signaled the de-evolution back to Palmon. Mimi gasped and hurried toward her partner – only Jyou and Sora's restraining arms prevented her from running into danger.

"There's no more time!" Koushiro shouted over the sound of the roaring wind. The battle with Lady Devimon had resumed, and an explosion sounded every few seconds as it fiercely raged on. "Now or never!"

Hikari wrapped both hands around the sword hilt and shut her eyes. Takeru, an expression of determination on his face, narrowed his eyes and placed his hands atop hers. Almost instantly, a pale glowing light appeared around them both, and then spread out over the empty space that had been the town square.

The cold wind stopped blowing; the debris settled once more on the ground as the dark wizard stopped his attack. Once again, he screamed in pain, and his cries echoed in the night. Then, the pale glowing light grew suddenly more intense, so that it was necessary to shield one's eyes in order to see anything. The screams of the dark wizard grew louder.

Through the bright glow of white light, Miyako could see the wizard, waving his arms and legs about as though to extinguish some flame. He was screaming, his breathing coming in short, quick breaths.

Mostly naffected by the light, which came up through the ground, Lady Devimon, angered by the damage caused to the dark wizard who was apparently her partner, attacked with darkness. In the bright white light, the Darkness Wave she sent out seemed ever darker than before.

"Harmonious Spirit!" called Shakkoumon, his attack seeming to be an even brighter white than before. Though it had previously seemed as though this was evenly matched with the devil digimon's wave of darkness, this time it easily overpowered the darkness, carving a thin line through the middle, blasting directly towards Lady Devimon. The rest of the darkness evaporated into nothing and the blue-white light crashed into her chest, sending her flying.

Shrieking in pain, Lady Devimon landed with a loud thud on the glowing white ground. Now, her screams mixed with those of the dark wizard. Black light surrounded her body as she de-evolved, first to Black Tailmon and then to a pale, sickly looking Plotmon.

"Now!" Takeru shouted over the sounds of screaming, his voice hoarse.

Miyako turned toward Ken, and saw a brief flicker of uncertainty in his eyes before he nodded. Pushing aside whatever doubts and fears she guessed he must have, he nodded, and removed his digivice from his pocket. He grasped it tightly in both hands and held it out in front of him, then shut his eyes and appeared to be concentrating.

Almost immediately, a dark glow similar to that which had surrounded Lady Devimon before her de-evolution began to form in the air nearby. Slowly, it spread so that a large, dark cloud was hovering in the air. It grew steadily larger until Miyako could make out flashes of red lightning in the midst of it, and the portal began to open up.

"No!" screamed the Plotmon that had been Lady Devimon. "No! I won't go back there! No! No! You can't make me!"

Apparently, however, they could make her, for a stream of darkness slithered from the portal that had opened in the sky and gripped hold of the small digimon around the waist. Shrieking and clawing with every ounce of energy in her reserves, Plotmon fought against the binding. Had she been Lady Devimon still, or even Black Tailmon, these efforts might have had more of an effect, but now she was too weak for this to be of any consequence. Within a few minutes, she was pulled within the portal, and there was only the dark wizard, staring with wide, red-rimmed eyes at the space where his partner had once been.

His struggles were quieter, for he had worn his voice out with his screams, but they were of more use, for he was stronger, better able to resist the pull of the portal.

"It's no good," he shouted, his voice crackling and breaking. "You aren't strong enough for this! I'm a far better wizard!" The slithering stream of darkness that had bound his partner gripped both of his ankles and his wrists, and yet the dark wizard struggled against the bindings and was not even lifted from the ground more than a short distance.

Miyako tore her eyes away from the scene to glance toward Ken. His eyes were shut tight in concentration, and she could see that he was struggling even more than the dark wizard. For some reason that she could never quite explain to even herself, she stepped forward and laid one hand on his shoulder. There was a brief pain in her palm, as though she had touched something hot, but this shortly faded.

She then allowed her own magic to release, to aid in the effort. Though it was, as Koushiro had stated, entirely the wrong type to open a portal to the Shadow World, it seemed to aid in some way, for Ken suddenly seemed slightly less pale. After a moment, Daisuke also placed a hand on Ken's opposite shoulder.

Then, Ken opened his eyes, the dark blue color suddenly almost glowing in the bright light, and the dark serpentine bonds pulled stronger.

"No!" gasped the dark wizard, grasping at the air, and then, with a final, sharp tug, he was pulled into the portal, which disappeared and faded into nothingness with a sickening thud.

----------

An abrupt ending, but that's it.

Sorry about the insane delay on this. It was much more difficult to plan out than I originally anticipated, and then between work (everyone taking vacations means more work for me) and then my own vacation (in the midst of which I caught a cold on my birthday) and some various other issues in the midst of this, it meant that it took a month to write and post.

There's at least one more story in this universe, and I've already started it, so expect that soon. I originally intended for Silphymon to appear in this, but never got to it, and there are a few other loose ends to tie up that would be best addressed in a completely new story.

Thanks for reading and reviewing. Feel free to be brutal in your critiques.


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